VOLUME 34 NUMBER 4

UMMER, 1951 This is a replica of one of the Rindisbacher water colors entitled, "An Indian Duck Shooting," ON THE COVER: acquired by the Society's Museum. See Museum Accessions for Rindis- bacher information.

The WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY is published by the State Historical .Society of Wisconsin, 816 State Street, Madison 6, Wisconsin. Distributed to members as part of their dues (Annual Membership, $3.50: Contributing, $10; Business and Professional, $ Life, $100: Sustaining, $100 or more annually). Yearly subscription, $3.50; single numbers, 90 cents. Communications should be addressed to the editor. The Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors. Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Madison, Wisconsin, under act of August 24, 1912. Copyright 1951 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Paid for in part by the Maria L. and Simeon Mills Editorial Fund and by the George B. Burrows Fund.

PERMISSION—Wisconsin newspapers may reprint any article appearing in the Wisconsin Magazine of History provided the story carries the following credit line: Reprinted from the State Historical Society's Wisconsin Magazine of History for | insert the season and year which appears on the Magazine],

PHOTO CREDITS—Ellen C, Sabin, by Stein Studio, Milwaukee: Franklin stove used by Grant Fitch, by Milwaukee Commercial Photographers, Inc., Milwaukee: Heater and hake-oven stove, by Milwaukee County Historical Museum: Richards' stove in the Octagon House, Watertown, by Frank Westphal, Watertown. VOLUME 34 NUMBER 4

PUBLISHED BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN • SUMMER, 1951

Editor: CLIFFORD L. LORD Managing Editor: LILLIAN KKUECER

CONTENTS

James Duane Doty: Mephistopheles in Wisconsin... .ALICE E. SMITH 195

Cooperation for Free Inquiry WAYNE C. GROVER 202

Eben E. Rexford, 1848-1916 WALTER A. OLEN 207

Milwaukee-Downer College Rediscovers Its Past GRACE NORTON KIECKHEFER 210

John V. Robbins, Pioneer Agriculturist CHARLES L. HILL 230

FEATURES: Readers' Choice 216 Meet the Authors 194 The Collector 233 Smoke Rings 199 Sincerely Yours 236 Pandora's Box 215 Accessions 253 ALICE E. SMITH'S interest in State and local history began when she was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, and assisted in the preparation of a four-volume History of Minnesota. Return- ing to her native Wisconsin in 1929, she became the head of the Manuscript Section of the State Historical Society. For the past four years she has held the office of Chief of Research, a position set up and sponsored jointly by the Society and the University to integrate a program financed in part by a Rockefeller Grant. Her "Mephi- stopheles in Wisconsin" was read at the Madison meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association in the spring of 1949. It is based on a book-length biography of James Duane Doty she is preparing, to be published by the Society.

meet the authors

After serving on the National Archives 1948. During World War II he served in staff for several years, WAYNE C. GROVKR the U.S. Army advancing from captain to was appointed assistant archivist of the lieutenant colonel, 1943-40. Dr. Grover is United States on July 31, 1947, and has the author of Records Administration Pro- been archivist since June 5, 1948. He is gram of War Department, 1948, and of consultant on Federal records management numerous magazine articles. His address, problems, Commission on Organization of at the Founders' Day Meeting of the the Executive Branch of the Government, Society, January 27, is printed in this issue.

Though a native of Chicago, MRS. GRACE she has resided at Brookheld, Waukesha NORTO.N KIECKHEFER lived in Milwaukee County, and says she feels "quite rural." most of her life. In 1922 she received her "Milwaukee-Downer College Rediscovers B.A. degree at Milwaukee-Downer College, Its Past," contributed to this Magazine, is and her M.A. at Columbia University two based on the excellent centennial history of years later. Interested in social work and the college (1951) of which Mrs. Kieck- religious education, she studied at Union hefer is the author. In late May she Theological Seminary, in New York, and was initiated as an honorary member still devotes considerable of her spare time into the Milwaukee-Downer Chapter of to these interests. For twenty-one years Phi Beta Kappa.

WALTER A. OLEN was born at Winneconne, active in numerous civic and historic mat- January 31, 1875, attended school at ters, among them the creation of the Rex- Winneconne, at Oshkosh Normal, and was ford Room of the Finney Public Library graduated from the Northern Indiana Law at Clintonville. Local history and folklore School in 1899. He was a country school- are pursued as hobbies. He has been a teacher for five years and practiced law at pioneer in tree planting, having enrolled Clintonville from 1900 to 1913. He helped his summer home of 280 acres under the to organize the well-known Four Wheel Forest Crop Law where he has planted Drive Auto Company and has been its 180,000 trees. Rexford's achievements were president for forty years. From 1912 to narrated at the Society's 1949 meeting, 1945 he was its general manager. He is held at Appleton.

Wisconsin-born CHARLES L. HILL is asso- hundreds of calves which became the foun- ciated far and wide with the development dation of excellent herds in the states; he of purebred Guernsey herds. The fine dairy has devoted many years to managing farm, "Sarnia," on the outskirts of Rosen- Guernsey sales throughout the United dale, Fond du Lac County, has been in States, as well as judging this breed at possession of the Hill family for five genera- expositions and at National Dairy Shows tions, since 1853. from coast to coast. In 1920 the State of Charles Hill's interests are of great va- Wisconsin found in him an able commis- riety: he has made frequent trips to the sioner of agriculture, in which capacity he Island of Guernsey where he selected served until February, 1938.

194 Wisconsin's great disturber, its most ef- fective stirrer-up of business and politics, is here sketched by a master researcher. We are given tantalizing glimpses of Doty's tangled trail and hints of the de- tective work that the author is employing to bring out the complete story of a fascinating personality.

James Duane Doty: Mephistopheles In Wisconsin

by Alice E. Smith

In June, 1865, the capital city of Utah Terri- Almost a century has passed since Doty tory staged a great celebration. Notable visi- was laid to rest in Utah, but in his home tors had arrived by stagecoach in the Mormon state of Wisconsin he is still regarded as its colony: Speaker Coif ax of the House of Rep- evil genius. Historians delight in contrasting resentatives and editors and publishers of his turbulent administration as governor with some of the country's greatest newspapers. the well-ordered one of his predecessor, Henry- Work on the long deferred Pacific railroad Dodge. Artists depict him as Mephistopheles was starting at last from the east and the west in Wisconsin, cool, crafty, calculating. Resi- ends, and Mormon joined Gentile in rejoicing dents of the State regale visitors with tales over prospects of its speedy completion. of the founding of their capital city in graft At the height of the festivities came the and corruption. And in true legendary style, news of the sudden death of Utah's territorial his stature grows with advancing years and governor, a man who had watched the prog- he has become the hero of numerous fanciful ress of transportation on four frontiers, James tales, impossible to document and yet too Duane Doty. Born in the valley of the plausible to discredit. Hudson in 1799, Doty had spent his boyhood For nearly forty years Doty made his home in the Black River region of Upper New in the region that is now Wisconsin. He came York; had been in Detroit when the first in 1823 with his bride, the former Sarah steamboat arrived; traveled thousands of Collins, to fill the newly created office of miles by Indian canoe along Wisconsin's Additional Judge of the Court of Western waterways; laid out the first road across that Michigan. From among the French Cana- territory; designed for it an elaborate system dians who for a century and a half had been of internal improvements; and pushed plans trading for furs on the Upper Great Lakes for a railroad from its Lake Superior bound- and the Mississippi, a few had remained in ary to the Pacific Ocean. Now as America's the West. By 1823 most of these traders were first transcontinental railway was approaching clustered in three villages: at Michilimackinac reality, death came to him near the shores on the Straits, and La Baye and Prairie du of the Great Salt Lake. Chien at the ends of the Fox-Wisconsin water-

195 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951

way leading from Lake Michigan to the cerning the native red men. An Indian. Doty Mississippi. French was the language spoken maintained, should not be bound by white in these primitive settlements; their social men's laws as long as he did not interfere institutions those that met the practical needs with their affairs, and the judge carried the of their isolated situation: common ownership interpretation so far as to free the confessed of pasture lands, simple rules of justice and murderer of another Indian, a Menominee court procedures based on the ancient coutume chief who declared he performed the act de Paris, and rites of the Church performed under an ancient tribal law of retribution. on infrequent trips to population centers or By today's standards, the decisions of the when a priest made an occasional visit. The youthful magistrate do not appear revolu- close of the War of 1812 had brought some tionary. Order must be maintained in court, changes. Garrisons were established and their we all agree. For moral reasons, as well as commanders laid down military regulations to determine inheritance of property, marriage that often proved irksome, to say the least, laws must be enforced. Wherever civilians to the easygoing ways of the frontier popu- and the army come in contact the world lace. Adventurous Americans began to appear, around, the ascendancy of one over the other anticipating the time when Indian treaties is a point of controversy. Doty's humane view and public land sales would permit them to of Indian rights in now lauded, and the trial secure title to portions of the domain. of the Menominee chief Oshkosh is the subject This was the circuit that the twenty-four- of a mural in the Wisconsin Supreme Court year-old Judge Doty entered, the sole resident chamber. federal civil official with more than local But these detached views were not enter- jurisdiction, holding virtually unrestricted life tained in Western Michigan 125 years ago. and death authority over the inhabitants. An Mutterings and angry protests against Judge indolent man facing the situation would have Doty's rulings filled the Wisconsin air; some contented himself with a semblance of legal of them reached the halls of Congress and the performance; a timid one would have found ears of President Jackson. Among the com- refuge and probably life tenure in the posi- tion by conforming to the prevailing patterns. plaints was a statement signed by Major David But whatever Doty's faults were, and he had Twiggs, Commanding Officer at Fort Winne- many, he was neither indolent nor weak. In bago, and transmitted to the President by an his first year in office he gave convincing evi- influential Jacksonian. Upon hearing the news dence that civil law and justice were to pre- of Mrs. Jackson's death, according to Twiggs, dominate in Western Michigan. When the Doty had observed what a fortunate occur- leading trader and wealthiest man in Prairie rence it was, adding that there was no place du Chien ridiculed the court and the judge, in Washington for "such a woman" In his Doty fined him and demanded and received earlier days the "Old Warrior" would have an apology. At Green Bay the judge created issued a challenge to a duel on less provoca- a commotion by ordering some thirty or tion than that remark. Now President, the forty long-established residents to enter into least he could do to vindicate his wife's marriage contracts and, when a few demurred, memory was to end the slanderer's career he imposed such severe penalties that they as judge. hastily changed their minds. Whatever the immediate basis for his deci- Friction between the new court and the sion may have been, Jackson did not reap- military quickly rose to white heat. As the point Doty. Off the government payroll for tide of immigration increased, the oncoming the first time in nine years, the ex-judge settlers became increasingly impatient with readily found "fillers" to carry him along. restrictions the army felt bound to enforce, He served as attorney for the American Fur and in Doty's court they sought and obtained Company and for Wisconsin Indian tribes, redress from their grievances. In still another laid out routes for two military roads, at- respect did Judge Doty incur condemnation tempted to revive old claims to the Jonathan on his decisions. This was in matters con- Carver Tract on the Mississippi, and repre-

196 DOTY: MEPH1STOPHELES IN WISCONSIN sented Western Michigan in the Territorial had made Doty an agent and partner in the Legislature at Detroit. village of Astor they had planned near the These, however, were but stopgaps until mouth of the Fox River—now the heart of the event that all Western Michigan awaited the city of Green Bay. The agent attacked should occur—the opening of public lands. the problem with his customary vigor and Advance notices of the sale to be held at for a while Astor village flourished. By dint Green Bay in August, 1835, attracted throngs of persuasion, cajolery, warnings of competi- of buyers to the Lake Michigan shore. Doty's tive encroachments of rival village promoters, wide acquaintanceship in Eastern cities and and such other tactics as came to mind, Doty his detailed knowledge of the Wisconsin ter- managed to get the money-conscious senior rain now stood him in good stead. In the member of the project to lay out a number of ensuing land boom he acted as agent for improvements, including the imposing three- Eastern capitalists; entered into partnership story Astor Hotel. with other investors; organized associations Other prospective villages were platted by and selected lands and village sites for them; Doty and recorded in county archives, await- and purchased shares in promotional schemes ing the time when their founder could blow a of other speculators like himself. breath of life into them. One prize must Because of these various methods of invest- certainly fall to some inland city, in view of ment, it is impossible to determine how much sectional rivalries of Lake Michigan and land he owned in Wisconsin. Undoubtedly Mississippi River settlements. That prize was the amount was not staggering, compared the capital of the territory, and Doty with the vast acreages held by other greedy determined to win it for one of his projected land speculators of the day. Doty's entries villages. were selective, rather than extensive. A pro- During his first winter as a judge Doty spective water-power site here, a fine bend on had proposed the establishment of a new ter- a river there, a favorable port on Lake ritory west of Lake Michigan and in the fol- Michigan, an attractive combination of fea- lowing years he had been the most persistent tures, all were taken with a canny eye to of all the clamorers for a separate status for future commercial value. Doty did not intend Wisconsin. When territorial organization ac- to wait for time and settlement to give value tually took place in the spring of 1836, Doty to his properties. Along with his land selec- was still in political disfavor and Jackson's tions he planned the construction and im- appointments went to rivals in the populous provement of inland waterways. This was the southwestern lead mining area. In that corner era of the canal craze in the United States, of the territory the first Legislature assembled, and Wisconsin Territory was not to fall be- in a temporary capitol in October, 1836. hind the prevailing style if Doty's fine Numerous promoters were on hand, each schemes materialized. In his mind's eye he carrying elaborate drawings of prospective pictured lower Wisconsin as a gigantic web cities whose superiorities as a permanent of highways, canals, navigable rivers, lakes, capital site he urged upon anyone he could and railroads, on which all the instruments buttonhole. Legislators who attended the Bel- of land and water locomotion known to mont session and historians of early Wiscon- man would ply their busy traffic among sin agree that of all the high pressure sales- Doty-owned estates and Doty-controlled in- men at the meeting, the "shrewdest, most dustrial sites. subtle, suave, and insinuating" was James An integral part of Doty's ambitious pro- Duane Doty. "Being a consummate political motional schemes was laying out villages and manipulator, a master of chicane, and a encouraging immigration. Just at the opening lobbyist of unusual charm and impressive- of the great land boom he had entered into ness," one writer continues, "he took a direct a unique experiment in city planning. On part in persuading the legislators to vote as March 5, 1835, John Jacob Astor, the Ameri- he wanted them to vote." "While others were can Fur Company magnate, and his two planning," a contemporary declared, "Judge associates, Ramsay Crooks and Robert Stuart, Doty was acting."

197 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951

When the smoke of battle cleared away, stood. While they did not mention Doty by numerous legislators and certain other persons name, each resolution set in motion investi- of consequence were the owners of lots in a gations which were prolonged and pushed paper city, an unoccupied and unimproved until their cumulative effect brought him to tract named Madison, situated on an isthmus the brink of ruin. Behind the remorseless between two lakes; Madison had been chosen probing were Governor Dodge and the resi- the permanent capital of Wisconsin; and dents of southwestern Wisconsin, a class- Doty, its founder and part owner, had been conscious, tight-welded group, southern in selected a commissioner to erect, with the origin, Democratic in politics, and determined funds appropriated by Congress for the pur- to maintain their political ascendance over pose, a suitable capitol building. the rising tide of Yankees on the Lake Before any of his many schemes could Michigan shores. reach fruition, the Panic of 1837 struck with On the surface the investigations appeared all its devastating force. Strangely enough, a comedy of cat and mouse tactics. Doty the busy promoter was not disturbed at the often seemed about to be cornered but as catastrophe. The enforced stoppage would often deftly escaped. When ordered to appear give him time to take stock and develop in court, his Congressional immunity kept projects under way, he believed, and so it him in Washington. Scheduled conferences was. The grand hotel at Astor was completed missed connections by narrow margins. Con- and opened; the only two territorial banks struction on the capitol building halted, Doty's that ever operated in Wisconsin proper listed dismissed board being powerless to proceed him as director and heavy shareholder; and but refusing to turn over remaining funds December, 1838, saw the Legislature assemble to the new board. No one knew who was the for its first shivering session in a hastily actual owner of Madison, or if any titles to constructed capitol at Madison. property there were valid. In parallel col- By this time Doty was back in political umns of newspapers rival claimants adver- life, representing Wisconsin as territorial dele- tised identical tracts for sale, each claiming gate in Congress. To that body he presented to be the rightful owner. Uneasy holders of his plans for a system of internal improve- city lots took the precaution to add to their ments in Wisconsin Territory, including pro- original deeds new documents insuring their visions for grants of land to aid in their con- ownership of the property under a second struction. Measures to that effect introduced set of proprietors, a seeming duplication of in both houses found smooth sailing in com- title that still appears on Madison city ab- mittees whose chairmen were heavy specu- stracts, to the great bewilderment of modern lators in Wisconsin lands. But Congress was purchasers. At times when the odds seemed in no mood in the spring of 1839 to authorize to be hopelessly against Doty, he would pay new canal construction or risk plunging a a sudden visit to the town and, wooed by his lightly populated territory into a morass of smooth explanations and his charm of manner, debt, and so Doty's bid for a system of in- waverers would swing in a body to his side, ternal improvements failed to materialize. convinced that he was the object of unwar- The rejection in Washington was a keen ranted and brutal attacks. Baffled thus at disappointment, but developments at home every turn, one of his alienated associates, were truly disastrous for Doty. Far from Governor Stevens T. Mason of Michigan, being appreciative of the transformation of whose own course in the Madison property the Four Lakes wilderness into a semblance scrape does not make a pretty story, penned of civilized life, the Legislature that met in the oft-quoted denunciation of Doty: a liar, Madison the winter of 1838-39 appeared to a calumniator, and a swindler. harbor a grudge against the founder of the capital city. Three resolutions were intro- The present-day inquirer into Doty"s re- duced during the session, inquiring into the puted misdemeanors ends up in nearly as condition of territorial banks, the use of the great confusion as did Governor Dodge's capitol building funds, and the validity of annual corps of investigators. Probers into title to the grounds on which the capitol (Continued on page 238)

198 The 1951 Legislature, recently adjourned, did very well indeed by our Society. It gave us an initial budget of $309,105 for the first year of the coming biennium, $339,964 for for the archives and manuscripts, improving the second year. Both figures, which include the service to our readers without extra cost. cost of living bonuses, were in exact accord It will make possible the renovation of office with the Governor's final recommendations areas for the more efficient utilization of the as altered by the May 1 increases in both base space involved, and will permit redecoration pay and bonus. Subsequent appropriation of the present University quarters as well as bills approved by the Legislature, and signed modernization of the lighting throughout the by the Governor, raise the respective annual building. totals to $351,105 and $362,964. In addition, The 1951 Legislature has opened other new on the recommendation of the State Building vistas to us. It has amended our civil service Commission, the Legislature appropriated regulations to facilitate the development of $318,000 for the necessary renovation of our the research program of the American His- building following the removal of the Uni- tory Research Center. It has authorized agree- versity Library. ments between the Society and the Conserva- Behind these figures lie some very signifi- tion Department under which the Society cant facts. The total budget creates a number may operate historic houses and museums of new positions which will fill the worst within the borders of the several state parks. bottlenecks on our staff. It enables us to take It has revised and strengthened the regional over full responsibility for the maintenance depository law, placing primary emphasis on of our building without assistance from the the libraries of the teachers colleges as the University once Lhe University vacates the logical sites for such facilities. It has author- premises. It provides a substantial increase ized the director of budgets and accounts to in our book fund which is long overdue and give us specimens of the depression bank greatly appreciated. It furnishes us with a script when offered for redemption. It has fund to defray the costs of moving our collec- created a specific statutory basis for the tions into the areas now occupied by the American History Research Center and the University Library. junior program. It has greatly increased The building appropriation will enable us its financial support of the latter program in to create additional safeguards against fire face of the fact that exhaustion of our pri- hazards, especially in the basement, around vate fund resources would have forced cur- the elevator shafts, and in the wiring of the tailment of the program or a drastic rise in building. It will enable us to renovate most the fee for junior memberships another year. of the first floor for museum purposes. It It has authorized us to develop a farm mu- will make possible the consolidation of our seum in Nelson Dewey State Park and ap- service areas into two central locations: the propriated a modest fund to facilitate the second floor desk for the reference, news- gathering of relics for display there. It has paper, and government publications sections, created a large capital revolving fund to ex- and the third floor (reading room balcony) pedite the microfilming of important Ameri-

199 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 can manuscript collections in potential target Key points in the program which won this areas which should greatly enrich our re- national recognition for our Society were: sources for the study of American history. (1) the establishment of the first regional It has designated our archives division as the depositories for county and local public rec- permanent depository of court records on file ords, business records, and manuscript ma- for seventy-five years or more. It has memori- terials, (2) the opening of the Guide to alized Congress to issue a commemorative Business Records, a research tool of major three-cent stamp in honor of Lyman Copeland significance in tapping the field of business Draper in connection with the Society's cele- history, (3) the creation of the American bration of the Draper Centennial in 1954. History Research Center last January with A bill to give statutory authority to the Wis- its emphasis on state and local history—an consin Historical Markers Commission (with- act which an Eastern educator recently hailed out an appropriation) was subsequently as "the greatest stimulant in sight to a vetoed. scholarly approach to state and local his- In short, the 1951 session has added to tory," (4) the initiation of an annual Insti- our responsibilities and to our prestige. It tute for Local History, (5) the organization has ironed out minor wrinkles in our present of the Women's Auxiliary, and (6) the hold- governing statutes and given us a cohesive ing of the first annual Photographic Com- body of law under which to operate. And— petition. money being the necessary base of all our This has been a fine year for our Society, activities—it has supplied us the wherewithal now climaxed by this signal recognition. The certificate of award will be presented formally to carry out the program effectively and effi- at our Founders' Day meeting next Janu- ciently. Our debt to the recent Legislature ary 26. and to the individual members of both houses who so diligently helped each piece of legis- lation toward passage is great indeed. Our The Annual Convention at Green Lake was debt to the Governor who revised his initial a real success. The largest attendance in our recommendations to give us a generous bud- history was attracted by the luncheon given get, one which for the first time since the by the Women's Auxiliary—some 370. Gen- depression beginning in 1929 gives us a eral attendance at the other sessions was above chance to do our job well, is equally great. the usual average. The weather was remark- able—and well remarked upon—chiefly for The challenge of the opportunities thus the amount of precipitation and the vio- presented to us is formidable. The prospects lence of the Thursday evening thunderstorm. are exhilarating. Barring the advent of Twenty-eight members of the Board of Cura- World War III, we aim to make a record tors, a modern record by a margin of one, which will fully justify the faith the Governor were in attendance. Even the papers were and the Legislature have shown in our So- better than usual. The dinner speeches by ciety these first six months of 1951. Professor W. B. Hesseltine and Curator Glen Rork were highlights which you will want A Special Award of Merit was given our to read in future issues of this Magazine. Society by the American Association for Watch, too, for the papers by Reynold Wik, State and Local History at its June conven- Herbert Jacobs, William Russell, and Wilbur tion at Newark, Delaware. T'lis award, for Glover. The Badger State Folklore Society the outstanding job done by any state his- was out in force for a program featured by torical society during the year 1950-51, was Helene Stratman-Thomas Blotz's discourse made on the basis of a national poll of the on Wisconsin Folk Music and a star paper state societies. In this weighted poll, Wis- by Dorothy Enderis on the Milwaukee Folk consin received 29 votes. The State Histori- Fair. The Genealogical Society heard an cal Society of Missouri placed second with 17 interesting talk by Stanley Perry and partici- votes. The Texas Historical Society was a pated in a worth-while "clinic" headed by close third with 13 votes. Winston Luck. A tour of the vicinity and the

200 SMOKE RINGS subsequent tea given by the Auxiliary at the ment. The College is lending its truck and the Tuscumbia Country Club, oldest in Wisconsin, help of its state-wide network of workers. The were hampered by the downpour but were barns are to be refurbished and the grounds rewarding to those who braved the storm to landscaped by the Conservation Department, share in them. The inn was comfort itself, with some financial assistance from the Grant and the surroundings—what little could be County Board. The Highway Department seen of them—were highly congenial. will furnish access roads. The help of the offi- To our 2,900-odd members who missed cials of Cassville, headed by Mayor Eckstein, the convention go our condolences, with our has been indispensable. It is hard to imagine hopes that they will not have to absent a situation in which a greater number of themselves again another year. independent and separate agencies and groups have cooperated more wholeheartedly and The Farm Museum Project is making fully than has been the case so far in the rapid progress. Mr. Carpenter is hard at Nelson Dewey development. work gathering relics, chiefly in the south- The same promise to hold true for the western corner of the State among our friends larger project on the campus of the State in Grant County. The barns at Nelson Dewey University. And in the picture, too, is the State Park are earmarked for a display of long-continued interest of the management of the tools of the period when our first governor the State Fair, with its standing offer of ex- was resident there. These barns offer just hibit space at the annual fair. This year for slightly less floor space than the Farmers' the first time we will be in a position to capi- Museum at Cooperstown, and are more than talize on this offer. In a large tent in the adequate for a remarkably complete display new area off the parking lot, the College and of the farm and craft equipment of the 1860's the Society this August will have a display and 1870's. Negotiations for a teaching of some of their choicest findings to date. museum of rural life for the College of Agri- If you come to the Fair, don't fail to visit our culture have matured, after ten years of dis- own version of the big-top, a symbol not with- cussion, in an agreement that the proposed out significance in the history of our State. museum is to be a joint project of the College and the Society, with relics jointly owned and policy jointly fixed. The College is furnish- ing storage space in the loft of the Stock Pavilion and in a temporary building nearby, together with the very necessary use of a truck and the field services of its county agents. The Society is furnishing the col- lecting services of Mr. Carpenter, the help and assistance of its friends and co-workers throughout the State. This is obviously a INDEX long-term project but, at long last, it is off to Please mail the Society a postcard a good start from a firm foundation. if you wish a copy of the index for In fact this pair of projects is a good Volume 33 of the Wisconsin example of the sort of inter-agency coopera- Magazine of History (September, tion which is so notable a feature of State government in Wisconsin. At Cassville, col- 1949 through June, 1950)—now lecting for the Nelson Dewey project by the available. The names of Curators College and the Society is being matched by and "Exchanges" appear on a per- the invaluable help of members of the Grant manent mailing list. No charge for County Historical Society. Our Society is copies. Address: State Historical lending technical know-how and the services Society, 816 State Street, Madi- of a field man and will operate the museum son 6. by agreement with the Conservation Depart-

201 Our own stepped-up program for gather- ing archival materials in regional de- positories centers our attention on the aims of professional archivists. Here is the new spirit set forth by the Archivist of the United States. Cooperation and local integration are his bywords.

Cooperation for Free Inquiry

by Wayne C. Grover

The opening of the American History Re- some of the things that might be done if search Center is occasion once again for we could really shake ourselves free of day- compliments to the State Historical Society to-day routine; if we could apply the neces- of Wisconsin. There have been other occa- sary energy; if we could, in a word, cooper- sions in the past; we are here pouring new ate. I will not speak of finding the resources wine into an old and distinguished bottle. to cooperate, because if the cause is just and The record of this Society and of its great the energy sufficient thereto, the resources, Library is well known to all of us who work sooner or later in this best of all possible to collect, preserve, and make available for countries, can be found. use the source materials of American history. I will speak especially to those whose The opening of this center seems to me, above province is the acquisition and use of manu- all, to be a reaffirmation of the value of this script and archival research materials. I will work. It is in a sense a rededication to the not intrude too far into the librarians' main principle that binds us all together—histo- province, which, as I understand it, is still rians, librarians, and archivists alike: the the published document, rather than the principle of free inquiry. unique document. Most librarians, however, Even those of us who labor daily in the will at least have a subsidiary interest. As service of this principle take it too much for for the practicing historian—the writing granted. We get wrapped up in little things historian—he is as usual the innocent by- —side issues of administration, techniques, stander. We will hope on this occasion that habits of thinking handed down to us from he acquires the blessings of the innocent other days, habits that now, in a changed rather than the bullets that are too often situation, may obstruct when they were in- the lot of the bystander. tended to facilitate. We need to re-examine Among the matters I mention, you will all our habits occasionally, particularly our ad- find some old familiar friends.' Do not be ministrative habits. We need to have a look discouraged. I present them for the record at our foregone conclusions—those assump- more to fortify myself in future moments of tions that are buried so deep that, if they irresolution than to light the divine fire in ever come to the surface at all, it is to our you, who already by your works have shown lips and not to our minds. your faith. There is the assumption about cooperation, The word I started with is cooperation. for example. It is a foregone conclusion that Cooperation is not something that is achieved all of us "cooperate" in the service of free by a genial smile, an occasional pat on the inquiry. The opening of this center, however, back, a friendly meeting over a glass of beer seems to me a splendid occasion to recall at an annual professional meeting. It is true

202 GROVER: COOPERATION FOR FREE INQUIRY that cooperation requires an immense amount that it cannot be used without damage to the of plain goodwill—human interests, person- recorded evidence it contains, then it will alities, and prejudices being what they are. not be used until it can be repaired, if the But cooperation also takes work. It takes archivist's judgment prevails in the matter. persistent effort toward a steady goal; it must He will preserve the integrity of the record be organized; it sometimes requires the sacri- as best he can, if necessary behind barred fice of time and money to the future that our doors, brooding and despairing to the last patrons might prefer us to spend on the here no doubt about the callousness of the appro- and now. On the national or regional scale priations committee that fails to provide funds —the inter-institutional scale—it involves tra- for his repair work. ditions and laws and policies, all the things That is the principle and to protect it, I that go to complicate, and at the same time assure you, I would take my stand behind to safeguard, the values of our Federal, State the barred door with my colleague. But the and local, our official and nonofficial, institu- situation in this country is not that bad, tions and relationships. either with respect to the sympathy of legis- American librarians, with a national pro- lative committees or the state of repair of fessional organization dating back to 1876, the majority of our documents. The problem have long since found ways and means to is to make sure that our principles of preser- cooperate that are far in advance of anything vation are not used to avoid such a ground- thus far put into practice by the archivists, breaking discussion as might be posed, say, the curators of manuscripts, or by what for by the question of loaning bodies of unique lack of a better term I will call the adminis- source materials to other responsible archival trative historian. Their arrangements for depositories. Similarly, we should not rule inter-library loans are advancing steadily, out possibilities of cooperation by our desire they have struggled with union catalogs with to attract visitors to our own institutions; or at least some success, they have devised fairly by our feeling that research materials gath- standard techniques and rules for cataloging, ered at considerable expense by our particu- and they discuss with each other common sys- lar university should be the exclusive property tems of classification, and sometimes even of its own faculty; or even by our desire to apply them. I am not saying these are desid- refrain from taking any chances that might erata for my craft; largely, they are not. And jeopardize prompt service to those who are I do not want to leave any false impressions. nearest and dearest, that is, those who butter The Society of American Archivists has come our bread. a long way since it was organized in a not Actually, the introduction of new ways of very large nor very smoke-filled hotel room cooperation in the archives and manuscripts in Providence, Rhode Island, back in 1936. field in this country has only awaited the So has the American Association for State further development of professional standards and Local History since its organization in and institutions of the kind you have estab- 1940. lished here in Wisconsin. Such manifestly But the archivists and curators of manu- radical ideas as the inter-institutional loan scripts, in particular, inherit a strong tradi- of archival material requires mutual profes- tion from Europe, a tradition of local in- sional dependability and common aims, stand- sularity, official privacy, and possessiveness ards, and techniques. The fact that we are that clings to archival establishments every- beginning to acquire these, as the librarians where. The tradition is strong because part acquired them long ago, is making many old of it rests upon duties that are fundamental notions obsolete. and basic to everything the archivist does. At one time, for example, it was in the For instance, no one can successfully dis- best interests of scholarship for a manuscript- pute the archivist's duty to preserve—in the collecting institution with facilities and staff literal meaning of this term—the records in to seize upon any body of materials, no his custody that he has judged to be worthy matter how distant from home or how foreign of the effort. If a document is so fragile to the subject-matter of its main collections.

203 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951

Today this is seldom necessary, but one can and Washington leaped to life as a man occasionally detect the vestigial habits re- working. When these great documents were vealing themselves in a certain competitive put on the Freedom Train for such an ex- spirit among the collecting institutions. Now tended tour, there were some who thought if there is one field more than any other in we were taking chances. We took no chances, which cooperation rather than competition is you can be sure. The Freedom Train was needed, it is in the arrangements we must marvelously protected and secure. But if you make to assure that we are not inundated by figure chances down to the last decimal the trivia-on-paper, public and private, made point, what is the chance of the Bill of Rights possible by modern recording apparatus. We becoming a scrap of meaningless parchment? archivists and manuscript curators might That chance we cannot take. possibly survive if it were merely ourselves The Freedom Train, for all it accomplished, or the scholar that we overwhelm. We could and it too was a cooperative effort, merely not survive the wrath of the taxpayer, how- scratched the surface. We must find further ever, nor, I'm afraid, having labored long and more economical means of carrying for- in this field, the wrath of our own consciences. ward its purposes. The best answers, I am I interpose this thought because I do not see satisfied, lie in the field of inter-institutional how we can possibly fulfill our obligation to cooperation. They lie, not in expensive na- select the valuable documentation of this tional enterprises, but in persistent efforts on generation and preserve it for succeeding the combined initiative of National, State, generations without, first, the most rigorous and local institutions. application of appraisal standards to reduce I should like to mention what I think are the burden on our facilities and, second, the the minimum cooperative efforts we should most careful definition of acquisition policies make in the immediate future. If we hold to assure the sharing of responsibilities. our aims to a practical minimum and pursue Among other circumstances compelling us them with patience through the endless com- to begin in earnest the complex task of plexities that always surround voluntary co- cooperation are the two great destructive operative efforts, we can make progress. I forces that confront us at this terrible moment submit that the purpose—not only to expand in history: the threat of war and the threat the possibilities of free inquiry but to help of communism. The possibility of atomic preserve and strengthen these possibilities for warfare gives to those of us in the probable future generations—is worthy of the effort target cities a special responsibility. For some demanded. institutions in such cities as New York, I shall begin at home, with the National Chicago, Detroit, and others, it should be Archives. A few months ago we obtained possible to work out cooperative relationships legislation giving us authority to transfer with institutions in less vulnerable areas. Federal records to public or educational insti- These are practical matters and can be ar- tutions under conditions prescribed in part ranged. I believe it even more urgent that by statute and in part by regulation. My we throw the full weight of our energy and feeling, for instance, has been that most of imagination into the ideological and moral the archives of our Federal district courts struggle that has the whole world in its grip. might be put to better use on a local or We have a document in the National regional basis than if centralized in one Archives called the Bill of Rights. In 1947 national depository. This is also the feeling we put it on a train with other documents of some of my colleagues in State archival from our archives and from other institutions, agencies. As a result, our previous policy and it rode 37,000 miles up and down the of centralizing these records in the National country. Three and a half million people Archives is now being re-examined. I would, saw it. A lot of them said that history came of course, see no point in shipping the to life for the first time. They saw Washing- district court archives at Richmond, Virginia, ton's handwritten notes on his own copy of to some other State that happened to have the Constitution at one stage of its creation— the facilities and an ambitious desire to build

204 GROVER: COOPERATION FOR FREE INQUIRY up the cubic footage of its collections. Nor National, State, and local institutions that would I consider for a moment the transfer acquires unique documentary material, but of such materials on indefinite deposit to an these statements need to be gathered together institution that, first, did not have adequate and published in usable form. I am satisfied facilities for their physical protection and that over the years, if this is done, the good preservation or, second, a professional staff sense of custodians, with some assistance guided in its handling of the documents by from the taxpayers as the space situation be- a body of commonly accepted professional comes more burdensome, will lead to an standards. This applies also to the possi- equitable division of responsibility on a bility of inter-institutional loans. I am not wholly cooperative rather than a competitive thinking now of individual documents that basis. can be furnished by photostat or series of I should hasten to add that I do not by documents that are in sufficiently widespread any means rule out the development or ex- demand to justify microfilming and distribu- tension by State and local institutions of tion of film copies. But all of us have in our collections that are of national interest. But custody bodies of materials around which a these will usually be formed along functional university history faculty might build a two, lines. Your collection built around the John three, or four year program of graduate re- R. Commons documents is an example. As a search. The inter-institutional loan of rela- matter of fact the possibilities of micro- tively small bodies of valuable documentary filming make the possession of the original materials, not likely to be in immediate de- papers more or less irrelevant anyway. My mand in our own institutions but that might proposal is simply that the task before all provide a part of the materials for an inte- of us is now too large, space too scarce, grated research program if they were avail- microfilming equipment too expensive, for able to a particular history faculty, should any one institution to carry out its responsi- be on our agenda. bilities effectively and economically without With all possible deference to professional knowing what others are doing and sharing historians, we could not turn over such mate- the load—sharing, in other words, our physi- rials directly to a history faculty. We would cal facilities. need to insist that the faculty have at its Another proposal for cooperation with re- service some nearby institution with a compe- spect to our physical facilities is a rather tent archival staff and reasonably secure simple one, but with high purposes. We facilities. I suggest as a task for the Society should adopt, as a profession, minimum of American Archivists, possibly in coopera- standards for the protection and display of tion with the American Association of State documents in our exhibit areas; then we and Local History, that it draw up minimum should use these areas for cooperative dis- standards for staff and facilities, and that it plays that draw upon the resources of other also provide a common set of ground rules institutions. On local initiative, with suffi- for the handling and protection of materials ciently energetic efforts to obtain the partici- on loan or transfer from one archival or pation of the public and the schools, much manuscript depository to another. Until this could be done to dramatize American history is done, I see little chance for cooperation in and the fundamentals of democracy. I be- this field. But it should not be so difficult. lieve here again that the formulation of com- I have mentioned the necessity to cooper- mon minimum standards by the Society of ate, rather than compete, in our acquisition American Archivists, in concert not only with programs. As a preliminary to any such the American Association for State and Local cooperation it is necessary for all of us to History but the American Library Associa- know what each other's acquisition policies tion, is a necessary preliminary. The mere are. The research now required to ascertain existence of such standards would assist insti- the policies of any particular institution, tutions that do not now have adequately safe- even when they are ascertainable, is too guarded display areas in obtaining such areas onerous. We not only need a carefully de- and putting them to use. fined acquisition policy for each of our You will notice that with customary im-

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modesty I have passed out assignments to our ment is likely to become scarcer as defense professional societies as if I had a right to requirements are increased. The National do it. The compilation of acquisition policies Historical Publications Commission, of which I haven't yet assigned, so I shall do so now. I am ex officio chairman, should be able to I suggest that this task relates closely to a start the ball rolling in this field, in pursu- project under consideration by the American ance of its statutory obligation to cooperate History Research Center. It is perhaps a with appropriate Federal, State, and local relevant measure of the distance we have to agencies and nongovernmental institutions in go to achieve effective cooperation that this preserving and publishing documents of im- latter project has been recognized in archival portance for an understanding and apprecia- and historical circles as being an elementary tion of the history of the United States. On necessity for at least twenty years. It has to the longer view, we may soon expect to hear do, not with physical facilities, but with the a good deal from this commission, seeking use of our documentary holdings. This is a ways and means of cooperation in the field of project for the collection and publication of a documentary publications. A draft of a re- union guide to manuscript sources in this port for the President of the United States country. Here is a cooperative effort that has been prepared, in response to his request really should not be too difficult to organize that the commission prepare a plan for pub- and that is widely recognized as of first im- lishing the papers of outstanding leaders in portance for research in American history. the development of the United States whose I hope the American History Research Cen- papers have not been adequately published. ter, either singly or in collaboration with The commission will meet soon to consider other institutions, will at long last get it under the draft report. I hope that we can proceed way. And I would further urge you to com- with a cooperative program in this field, de- bine it with the compilation and publication spite the emergency situation. of acquisition policies—certainly a necessary Now I am sure in these remarks that I have part of such a guide, if only to improve its overdone the use of that word "cooperation." usefulness as a research tool. I, myself, after observing for a number of There are of course many other exercises years the attempts of large-scale government in cooperation. As an immediate problem, and large-scale businesses to disentangle mentioned briefly once before in these re- themselves from their own paper-work, am a marks, I am sure our manuscript and archi- case-hardened believer in small, private enter- val depositories in so-called target areas prise. What is the essence of free inquiry if would welcome a central registry to which it isn't competition—competition in the they could turn for information on extra search for truth? So I shall put the problem space available in depositories in safer areas. in a different way. Let us compete, compete There might be a need also for some arrange- to the limit, in the free market of historical ment for the cooperative use of equipment scholarship—and the devil take that hindmost for security microfilming, since this equip- of all hindmosts, the acquisitive monopolist.

A New Periodical Midwest Folklore, an attractive eighty- editor is Professor W. Edson Richmond, page periodical, made its debut during a member of Indiana's English Depart- the spring. It is a cooperative enter- ment. Among the regional editors ap- prise of the regional folklore societies pointed to aid in collecting publishable of the Middle West; its aim "is to pro- folklore material is John W. Jenkins, mote an understanding of the folklore curator of the Museum of the State and culture of the central portion of Historical Society of Wisconsin, and the the United States." It is issued by Badger State Folklore Society's secre- Indiana University, Bloomington; its tary.

206 Here is a short sketch of the composer of an early song, "Silver Threads among the Gold," Eben E. Rexford. Though he spent many years in Shiocton, his memory is being perpetuated in the Rexford Room, a part of the Finney Public Library at Clintonville. Here visitors may browse among his home furnishings, personal belongings, and examine his literary works: books—es- pecially on garden subjects—poems, and short stories.

Eben E. Rexjord

Eben E. Rexford, 1848-1916

by Walter A. Olen

The author of "Silver Threads among the Arthur Rexford and his wife had six chil- Gold" is remembered in his neighborhood as dren, three girls and three boys. Up to the an unusual person who nevertheless repre- year 1900 the genealogy of the family indi- sents basic things in the life of our State. cates that there were 604 Rexfords. Approxi- Eben E. Rexford was an accomplished pro- mately half of them bore Biblical names. fessional writer and an unassuming citizen of There were 32 Samuels, as many Sarahs and Shiocton. His memory is still green where Daniels and Davids, which would indicate his devotion to gardening and to village and a very strong family loyalty and tradition. home life was displayed during a lifetime There were many outstanding soldiers both which ended only thirty-five years ago. His in the Revolutionary and in the Civil Wars, astonishing literary output is celebrated in of whom some held the rank of general. the Rexford Room of the Finney Public Li- Many were lawyers, judges, ministers, doc- brary at Clintonville, but that shrine is in- tors, and men of business; among the women tended to commemorate equally his absorp- were teachers and nurses. Yale was the tion in home and family. favorite college for the men and Vassar for The forebears of Eben E. Rexford in Amer- the women. It was an intellectual family ica were people of solid accomplishment with few laborers or farmers. There was only whose careers provide a basis for understand- one other Rexford besides Eben who was an ing many of the poet's attitudes as well as author and only two newspapermen. There an explanation for his talent and energy. The is no record of his mother to indicate that founder of the American family was Arthur his literary gifts came from her, although he Rexford, who was married to Elizabeth possessed her love of flowers and trees. The Stevens at New Haven, Connecticut, on Sep- old farm home still has many of the trees tember 3, 1702. He came from England near which she and her gifted son planted, prob- the Welsh border and at the time of his ably at about the time of the composition of marriage was listed as master of the sloop "Silver Threads among the Gold." "Rose." The earlier history of the family Most of the Rexford family remained in indicated that they might have come from New England during colonial times, but since Normandy and, before that, possibly from then they have followed the westward path Norway. trod by many others. Many are in the Middle

207 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

West and the Dakotas, and a great many have cago Press Club. His earliest poem, titled passed to the far Northwest. Jabas Rexford, "My Loving Little Wife" was printed in the Eben's father, came to Wisconsin in the Chimney Corner, a New York publication 1850's. He was a man of considerable intel- comparable in its day to the Saturday Eve- ligence, a fluent speaker and a great reader. ning Post. "Silver Threads among the Gold" He was school treasurer from about 1860 to was printed in the same periodical not so 1873 and was identified with school matters long afterward and it was accompanied by as long as he lived. The district school, which an outpouring of stories written chiefly for lay a mile from his farm, was known as the the New York Ledger. He moved to Shiocton Rexford school. He had a rare sense of in 1880 and continued to make his livelihood humor, was favorably known, and had many entirely out of his writings. In 1886 his friends. most famous work appeared. It was a narra- I have purposely examined this back- tive poem on a Civil War subject entitled ground of family life because it seems to Brother and Lover. Published in book form form the basis for the deep conviction that in many editions, it sold 250,000 copies and caused Eben E. Rexford to devote himself to attracted great attention. It is said that home life. There is no record or tradition Grover Cleveland named his daughter after that he ever wrote a poem or story or article its leading character. that wasn't strictly ethical and strictly clean. The people of Shiocton, where Rexford Because almost his entire life was spent on lived continuously for thirty-six years, de- the farm in the town of Ellington or in the scribe him as a very modest and retiring village of Shiocton except for a couple of man. He did nothing in the way of public years that he attended Lawrence College, his speaking; wrote no biography of himself; habits, his character, his ideals, and the type never used any of his writings on local occa- of life he lived is an open book known to sions and, when strangers came to see him everyone, and it indicates that he was one of because of his reputation, he avoided them. those unselfish, Christian, moral persons who He loved to visit with his home people and have been so fundamental in making our was well acquainted with the farmers of the democracy so great. community. He was uniformly kind in spite When Eben was fifteen, he taught the of a certain irritability and quickness to take Rexford school for a salary of $14 per month. offense. He seldom raised his voice or He taught the regular winter and summer laughed aloud but had a very engaging smile terms with twenty-seven pupils from among and chuckle. He took part in home talent the thirty-two enrolled as of school age in the plays and was an inveterate train-meeter, fol- district. The little frame building boasted a lowing the morning mail to the post office blackboard, and the teachers used the stand- for humorous chat afterward. His colloquies ard textbooks of the day—McGuffey's read- while waiting for his mail attracted a regular ers, Ray's arithmetic, and the Pinco gram- following. He completed his observances of mar. Rexford taught the school once again the amenities of village life by his devotion when he was seventeen. to the Congregational Church where he But by this time Rexford was launched played the organ for many years and con- upon his literary career and was beginning tributed generously to the church expenses. to earn money from poems and stories. Most of the remainder of his long life was spent In 1890 he married a widow by the name at his home in the business of writing. He of Mrs. Harsh, nee Bauman. Rumor has it attended Lawrence College for two years be- that he paid a lot of attention to her at the ginning in 1872, and in 1885 he went to the time he first came to Shiocton but he was World's Fair at Philadelphia and at the same a little too shy for her and she married time conferred with two of his publishers, Dr. Harsh. Rexford had no children but he J. B. Lippincott and the Curtis Publishing and his wife raised her nephew, Rexford Company. Except for this trip he never left Bauman. the State although he accepted membership During the last twenty-six years of his life in the Authors' Club of Boston and the Chi- Rexford occupied an upstairs room facing

208 OLEN: EBEN E. REXFORD the Main Street of Shiocton and the Wolf Outing. Increasingly toward the end of his River. Here he worked continuously as an life he was absorbed with articles and books author and poet. Fourteen volumes of his on garden subjects. Altogether he contrib- works on floriculture and horticulture were uted to at least 48 periodicals, but no com- produced here, as well as a great many short plete record of his production has ever been stories and poems. He usually did his writing made. There appear to have been 60 to 70 between two and five o'clock in the morning. short stories, 700 poems, and at least 14 There with the Bible and Webster's diction- books to his credit. Some of the stories and ary before him he turned out his works in a poems do not appear to have been published very large and clear hand. Late in his life although his book list was a notably success- he used the typewriter. His library contained ful one. about 200 volumes, mostly modern fiction. All of the furniture and equipment in the There is no complete record of all that he Rexford library or study room was presented wrote, but the years he devoted to writing to the Finney Public Library of Clintonville. covered several phases. The first was poetry, An Eben E. Rexford room has now been mostly of an inspirational type. There were added to that library which is an exact dupli- between 60 and 70 gospel hymns, about 12 cate in size of the study occupied by the popular songs including "When Silver author. The original furniture, statuary, pic- Threads Are Gold Again," "Pansy Blossom," tures, and personal articles have been ar- "I Love You," and "Drifting and Dreaming." ranged as nearly as they once were. Here it These were followed by a great many short is hoped that the works of Eben E. Rexford stories that were published in leading papers may be preserved and that his prolific liter- and periodicals. He served in editorial ca- ary output may become increasingly familiar pacities with the Ladies Home Journal and to the citizens of the State.

Milo M. Quaife Doctor of Letters The honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, "Author of twelve distinguished books was conferred upon Dr. Milo M. Quaife, and numerous articles on the Old North- noted author and historian, during west Territory, he has recently com- Wayne University's commencement ex- pleted an illustrated history of Detroit, ercises on June 14, in the State Fair a moving and dramatic record appro- Coliseum, Detroit. Dr. David D. Henry, priate to the 250th anniversary observ- president of Wayne, conferred the de- ance of the founding of the City. gree for the University and presented "Our cities, rivers, and roads are for Dr. Quaife with the following citation, this historian the setting of a human which summarizes his achievements: drama wherein the people of the past "Milo Milton Quaife, a native of have life. He has given clarity and Iowa; a graduate of Iowa College and meaning for our day to the unfolding the University of Missouri, he earned story of this area from the struggling the doctorate at the University of Chi- pioneer days to the present industrial cago; formerly Superintendent of the leadership. Wisconsin State Historical Society; formerly President of the Mississippi "To his patience as a scholar, to his Valley Historical Association; cofoun- careful preservation and indexing of der of the Algonquin Club of Detroit; valuable documents as editor and cura- Editor of the American Lakes Series; tor, and to his skill as an interpreter of until his retirement in 1947, he was our role and heritage in history, we owe Secretary and Editor of the Burton His- new knowledge about and new under- torical Collection of the Detroit Public standing of our city, our state, our re- Library.

209 This story of a famous Wisconsin Cc lege has more than one moral. It tells of early struggles, the achievement of firm foundations, and the transfer of culture from East to West. Most im- portant, it should convince readers of the fascinations of research and of the stark need for record-keeping.

Milwaukee-Downer College Rediscovers Its Past by Grace Norton Kieckhefer

The Centennial Celebration of Milwaukee- existence of its own from the date of its Downer College, which was concluded in chartering until the year of union, 1895, June, 1951, with the Centennial Commence- when the two schools were merged to form ment festivities, has focused public attention the college we know today. upon the interesting history of this Wiscon- To mark the one-hundredth anniversary sin institution and has instigated new re- of the chartering of the college, the Centen- search into obscure portions of its past. The nial Planning Committee proposed the pub- history of Milwaukee-Downer is rich in out- lication of a Centennial history. Writing an standing, vigorous personalities—doubly rich, account of the college since the union of 1895 in that the first half of the college story is in was a simple matter of consulting records, reality two distinct stories, parallel accounts publications, and files of documents, but the of two similar but entirely separate institu- records of the earlier days were discovered tions, Milwaukee College in Milwaukee and to be fragmentary, having suffered loss in Wisconsin Female (later Downer) College at frequent changes of administration, remodel- Fox Lake. Each college had a lively, eventful ings and removals, fire and other hazards, including the irresistible impulse felt by fe- males to clean out attics in the spring. Chief sources of material, outside of early school catalogs, of which an almost complete file has fortunately been preserved, were the Annals of Milwaukee College, compiled in 1891 by William Ward Wight, long-time offi- cer of the Milwaukee College Board of Trus- tees, and a brief History of Downer College, written about 1921 by the Rev. Henry Miner, who served long years as a trustee and officer of Downer and without whose recollections we should have but scant knowledge of the early days at Fox Lake. Excellent as are these two source books, there are still many gaps in the record—only tantalizing hints of happenings during some of the most cru- cial periods. These gaps, fortunately, are now being filled by interested history-lovers, not only in Wisconsin, but across the coun- IFiscojisin Female College. 1860

210 KIECKHEFER: MILWAUKEE-DOWNER COLLEGE try; the Centennial-inspired thirst for knowl- edge of the college past has brushed long- gathered dust from archives and attics from New England to California! "Upstate" New York became involved in the search for Milwaukee-Downer's past when the history planners decided that a portrait of the college founder should of course be featured and then found that they possessed no such portrait, not even the dimmest little tintype! To many people, the name of the redoubtable Catharine Beecher immediately comes to mind as the founding spirit of old Catharine Beecher Lucy Ann Parsons Milwaukee College, and indeed she was re- sponsible for its chartering as an institution time only. Lucy Ann Parsons had belonged of collegiate rank, but had it not been for in the East to a distinguished circle of pro- the earlier efforts of another progressive and gressive educators who were familiar with the equally valiant schoolmistress, Miss Beecher newest theories of the day and who were might never have chosen Wisconsin as the themselves pioneers and experimenters in locale for one of her experiments. new methods. Mrs. Parsons was acquainted Credit for the actual founding of Milwau- with the work of Emma Willard, Zilpah kee College, first of the sister institutions to Grant, and the Hartford Seminary project of be established, must go to a little lady whose Catharine Beecher before she came to Mil- name, prior to Centennial publicity, was waukee. Indeed, since she was well enough scarcely remembered on the college campus. acquainted with Edward Beecher, Catharine's A paragraph would suffice to state all that brother, to list him as a reference for her the college knew of her. In the summer of Female Seminary, she may also have known 1848, the same year in which Wisconsin Catharine Beecher personally before their achieved statehood, the newly organized Free Milwaukee meeting in the spring of 1850, Congregational Church of Milwaukee wel- when Miss Beecher accepted the invitation of comed its new pastor, the Rev. William Mrs. Parsons to explain her famous Plan to Leonard Parsons, and his wife, Lucy Ann. patrons of the Parsons seminary, with the Shortly thereafter Mrs. Parsons issued a thought in mind that the wonderful new little flyer, one of which has been preserved, Plan might be adopted in the Milwaukee announcing that in September she would school. As we know, Miss Beecher's Plan was open a school for girls in a small frame build- adopted and Mrs. Parsons' seminary became ing which stood at the rear of the Free Con- in 1851 the Milwaukee Normal Institute and gregational Church lot. (This was the fore- High School, with the high purpose of train- runner of the present Grand Avenue Congre- ing teachers for the West, and then in 1853 gational Church and was located at that time (because the faculty disliked Miss B's "high- on Broadway, south of Wells Street, where falutin' " name) Milwaukee Female College. the firehouse now stands.) Mary Mortimer, who was brought to Mil- It has been rumored that the purpose of waukee by Miss Beecher to introduce and ad- the school was to eke out the small ministe- minister her Plan, we now know was a friend rial stipend, but recent research into the life of long standing to Lucy Ann Parsons—they of Lucy Parsons reveals that teaching was had been fellow-teachers in a seminary in her chosen vocation, that she had taught with LeRoy, New York, and Mary Mortimer had great success before her marriage and con- determined, even before the Beecher experi- tinued to teach almost to the end of her long ment was contemplated, to go West as her life. From contemporary newspaper reports friend had done and start a little school. Miss and personal recollections of her students, Mortimer did not therefore in any sense Mrs. Parsons' seminary was a successful, usurp the place of Mrs. Parsons, who re- happy venture, but it was hers for a short mained as a teacher at the Milwaukee school

211 and Mrs. Parsons had returned to Ingham to teach. It was in her early years at Ingham, when she was still Lucy Ann Seymour, that Mrs. Parsons had met her successor in Mil- waukee, Mary Mortimer. Further research revealed that Lucy Ann Seymour had served as assistant principal of Ml LWAUKE Ingham, and that there was an old portrait of 1861 her with the four handsome Ingham sisters who owned and managed the institution. The until 1852, when she went on to Dubuque, good people of LeRoy photographed this old Iowa, to found another Beecher institution, oil painting and sent it on to Milwaukee. At her husband at the same time accepting the last Milwaukee-Downer was privileged to position of field secretary for the American gaze upon the features of its founder! But the Women's Educational Association, newly picture was not clear enough for reproduc- founded by Catharine Beecher and Eastern tion in the Centennial history and the fever- friends to raise endowments for her educa- ish search continued. But it seemed fruitless tional enterprises. and the history had gone to press when a With Mrs. Parsons' departure in 1852, her little packet arrived from LeRoy. In it a known connection with Milwaukee College tiny photograph and a simple note, '"Here's ceased, except that in 1891 Mr. Wight ac- your Lucy Ann!" By this time people across knowledged in the preface of his Annals that the continent were calling her by her first he was indebted to Mrs. Parsons, then living name. And no one cheered more heartily in retirement in LeRoy, New York, for in- than the printers when the search was re- formation about the first years of the college. warded and Lucy Ann was safe within the Having searched in vain through the ar- book! chives of the college and various other col- Thus one litttle corner of upstate New lections for a picture of this very important York, we are sure, will always feel a personal personage from the college past, the histo- interest in Milwaukee-Downer, as the college rians decided to try what, after sixty years, will feel a personal interest in LeRoy, Brock- was probably a very cold trail. Nevertheless, port, Geneva, Elmira, and many other spots letters of inquiry addressed to various public which have now been revealed as the homes officials at LeRoy, New York, brought back a of founders, teachers, trustees, and benefac- prompt response from members of the LeRoy tors of the early college. It is surprising to Historical Society, a most cooperative and ac- note what a large proportion of the Milwau- tive group. Immediately it seemed that half kee trustees and patrons came from New the inhabitants of upstate New York had York State, or neighboring Vermont and New been enlisted in the search for information Hampshire; one would have said that there regarding Lucy Ann Parsons and, more espe- had been a mass migration from these locali- cially, that important photograph, so that ties to Milwaukee. From the same section Milwaukee-Downer might know how its foun- came many of the Fox Lake founders and ad- der and first principal looked! ministrators also. Scraps of information came back by every One other fact which impresses one in mail. Lucy Ann, her husband and two chil- looking over the roster of early officers and dren were buried in a cemetery near LeRoy; patrons of the Milwaukee school is the pre- the dates of her birth and death were thus dominance of Abolitionists in the group. The obtained. Old catalogs of Ingham University, "Free" Congregational Church was a strictly a private seminary in LeRoy which closed Abolitionist offshoot from the earlier Con- its doors in the 1890s, revealed that Lucy gregational Society of Plymouth Church, and Ann had taught there before her marriage, from the Free Church group came the larger and that when the economic upheavals inci- portion of the school patronage. Among the dent to the Civil War forced the closing of incorporators of the college was the hot- Miss Beecher's Dubuque school, both Mr. headed lawyer, Asahel Finch, hero of Milwau-

212 kee's most famous runaway slave case. We may be sure that the slavery issue was agi- tated in the college, for Mrs. Parsons, Miss Mortimer, and of course, Miss Beecher, were all Abolitionists and stout propagandists for the cause. The famous feud of Catharine Beecher and the trustees of Milwaukee College, which marred the early years of Mary Mortimer's administration, has received much attention Milwaukee ('.allege in the lH90's from the biographers of the Beecher family. The college archives contain some of the orig- Street; it has been occupied for many years inal documents, which help in understanding by the Carlton Hotel and recently, under the strange ramifications of the case—letters the management of J. L. Sieberz, some of Increase Lapham, first president of the attempt has been made to restore historic Milwaukee College Board of Trustees, and features. This building was the third oc- the printed broadcast sheet stating her side cupied by the college, the first having been of the case which Miss Beecher distributed the little frame house behind the church, the when Milwaukee newspapers refused to print second, a brick structure on the northwest her vitriolic epistles. corner of Wells and Milwaukee streets, which The financial entanglements of the college had originally been the home of Mr. and in the late 1850's and the threatened lawsuits Mrs. Seth Parsons, parents of William by Miss Beecher and the Women's Education- Leonard Parsons, and which survived until al Association over endowment funds have 1938, when the march of progress could no more or less obscured the fact that matters longer be halted and it was torn down to architectural rather than financial caused the make a parking lot. final falling out and the withdrawal of Cath- The outstanding figure in the early days arine Beecher from the Milwaukee scene. It of Milwaukee College, and one who left her is evident from her correspondence and impress on many institutions and organiza- pamphlets that Catharine Beecher considered tions in the city of Milwaukee, was Mary herself an authority on school architecture Mortimer, a truly great teacher and adminis- and wholly competent to plan buildings for trator, who served from 1852 to 1857, and any purposes she might have in mind—do- again from 1866 to 1874. There is an ex- mestic science, gymnastics, or a "college cellent biography of Miss Mortimer by one home" (her euphemistic term for dormitory, of her former pupils, and much material con- a word she hated). It was the trustees' reluc- cerning her in reminiscences and correspond- tance to follow her plans to the letter, partic- ence of alumnae who studied under her, as ularly their addition, in the interest of econ- well as the minutes and records of various omy, of features quite detestable to her which organizations she served. caused her to label the whole Milwaukee proj- ect "unsuitable." It was a Beecher trait to be- But between the date of her first resigna- lieve that a Beecher could do anything, and to tion and the "Restoration," there is an inter- attempt to do it, and Catharine had been regnum of which we know little, and the drawing up plans for buildings since her college is most anxious to rediscover this lost Hartford Seminary days. In fact, the Mil- decade. From the minutes of an early student waukee school was housed in a building of organization which rejoiced in the name of her design from 1853 to 1895, for in her "The Curious Society," we gather that life pamphlet of 1851, An Appeal to Women in went on much the same under the Chapin Their Own Behalf, there is a picture of the sisters, Mary and Caroline, as under Miss building soon to be erected in Milwaukee, Mortimer. She indeed had recommended and it is marked distinctly, "Designed by them as experienced and entirely capable, the author." One may still view this speci- and we know that scholastically they did the men of Beecher architecture on Milwaukee very best they could for their students. The financial crisis brought on by the Civil War

213 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951 forced them at last to give up the school. The college has no pictures nor mementoes of these gentle sisters, and would like to know more about them. The trail leads again to upstate New York and it has been cold these ninety years, but perhaps good fortune will attend this search as in the Parsons case, and the college will be privileged to recapture this lost bit of its past. The difficult war period needed the strong hand of a man to bring order out of chaos, and to Catharine Beecher's mortification a man was chosen to guide the school from Jason Downer Charles S. Farrar 1863 to 1866. Samuel Sterling Sherman pos- sessed considerable ability both in business Charles Farrar had come to Vassar from administration and in the field of education. Elmira, where he had been a fellow-teacher His autobiography, written at the age of with Mary Mortimer in 1856. ninety, throws light not only upon the college Charles Farrar, who presided over Mil- problems, but gives us information concern- waukee College from 1874 to 1889, naturally ing another officer of the college, Milo P. emphasized the sciences, his chosen field, but Jewett, who served long and ably as vice- he also introduced the fine arts, not only to president and president of the Board of the college but to Milwaukee in general. To Trustees. Milo Jewett, who also combined attend the Ladies' Art and Science Class, business ability with scholarly interests, with its weekly lectures and reading courses founded with members of the Sherman family under the tall, distinguished Professor Farrar, a coffee and spice business which is still a became quite the vogue in Milwaukee society. leading Milwaukee firm, still directed by Farrar brought with him much scientific descendants of the Shermans. It has been a equipment which he generously placed at the surprise to many to learn that the senior disposal of the college, and in addition he partner of the firm of Jewett and Sherman owned a library of thousands of slides or was the same Dr. Jewett who served as lantern transparencies which were used to Vassar's first president. The close connection illustrate his art and travel lectures. A descrip- of Vassar and Milwaukee College at that time tion of the equipment used to project these is interesting to note. Milo Jewett had gone slides is noteworthy: to Vassar after a career as schoolmaster in The equipment consisted of a steam the South. Professor Sherman had also taught engine and rotary gas pump for condensing in the South, at a neighboring school, until oxygen and hydrogen in their respective the problem of Secession caused him to re- cylinders to any required pressure; opaque move his family to the North. It was an Barker window-curtains, so that perfect interesting turn of fortune that after years of separation, the two friends should again darkness could be secured in a moment of work together in the interests of Milwaukee time; several pairs of cylinders constantly College. It was Milo Jewett who was respon- charged, and several pairs of lanterns ad- sible for the selection of another man to head justed ready for use. The views were pro- the college, when Miss Mortimer's second jected on a screen to the size of about term drew to a close. Professor Charles 22 feet in length. Farrar had installed the science departments The real value of this experiment in adult and the observatory in what Catharine Beecher education lay in the building up of an enthusi- was pleased to call "the wealthy Mr. Vassar's astic group of supporters for the college, school," and he served as the first chairman which to that time had been unable to raise of these departments, where of course he came any permanent endowment. Although the Art in close contact with Milo Jewett. But the old and Science Class declined and died about upstate New York circle intrudes again, for the turn of the century, after Professor (Continued on page 241)

214 driveout. Markers within State parks are the responsibility of the Conservation Depart- ment. It is to be hoped that many of our historic places—certainly those at all available to the public—may be marked under this program. The great interest shown by many localities makes the cost of markers—where these can- not be paid from State funds—seem a matter of minor significance. The rural marker, an aluminum plate 4.1/2 by 6 feet, costs $182 de- livered, and the smaller marker for use on buildings or upon city sites costs $95. The durability of these enameled aluminum plates makes these prices very reasonable. Certainly they are not out of the reach of a determined Historic Sites and Markers civic club or historical society. Nominations of sites are always in order The increasing interest in the marking of his- and will be welcomed in the office of the toric sites calls for an attempt to get the Society's Director. The most scrupulous con- procedure for setting one up printed in a sideration will be given them. Travel in Wis- place where it will be available for reference. consin will be a more stimulating experience The official Wisconsin marker is available if our notable places are marked with signs to mark all important historic sites, including which guarantee that thought and care have buildings, wherever located. Anyone who has been devoted to their selection. a worthy site in mind is privileged to call it to the attention of the Wisconsin Markers and Sites Committee, whose approval is neces- Laminating Process sary if the official marker is to be used. The "Under the heading of 'Pandora's Box' Director of this Society is secretary to the | Winter No.], the following statement is committee. Decisions to grant the use of the made—'As yet, no laminating apparatus marker are made by the committee with the has been set up in Wisconsin.' advice of related agencies: the Archeological Survey, the Historical Society, the State Geol- "We have worked with the C. B. ogist, and the Folklore Society. Henschel Company for a number of But there is a popular assumption about years on laminated covers for catalogs the official marker that should be avoided: and they are well equipped to do the that the State treasury will stand the cost of laminating process which you refer to. every installation. This is unfortunately not However, they are a large firm and do at all the case. There are two State agencies it strictly on a commercial basis on long authorized to erect markers: the State High- run work. I am of the opinion that way Commission and the State Conservation another firm here in town known as Department. Neither can spend money on im- Presco Plastics, 277 E. Erie Street, provements to any but State-owned land. would be in a very excellent position to Therefore markers to be set up in incorpo- furnish you with the laminating process rated municipalities or on private property for valuable documents." may be official markers but must be paid for by individual or group contribution. Markers THE E. F. SCHMIDT COMPANY along highways may be erected and paid for DON BELL, Vice-President by the Highway Commission if land is dedi- Milwaukee cated in a safe zone for the construction of a

215 readers' choice

The Utopian Communist: A Biography of first German labor Congress on our soil; and Wilhelm Weitling, Nineteenth-Century he pioneered in the fields of social insurance, Reformer. By CARL WITTKE. (Louisiana cooperatives, and communal experiments. State University Press, Baton Rouge, The story of his relations with Communia, a Louisiana. 1950. Pp. vii, 327. $4.50.) Utopian colony in Iowa, was, like all his ven- This is one of the most interesting and tures, one of idealism, frustration, and fail- notable biographies I have read in a long ure. His later years were devoted to carrying time. It has many virtues: it is based on a on his trade as a tailor in New York, to mak- thorough study of hitherto unused manu- ing inventions to improve the sewing ma- scripts, the German immigrant press, and chine, and to writing treatises on a universal European materials. It shows a first-hand ac- language and on astronomy. quaintance with the leading secondary au- Dean Wittke's stirring account of Weit- thorities on related topics, especially Euro- ling's career is valuable, among other reasons, pean nineteenth century proletarian move- for the light it throws on the status of Ger- ments. In addition, Dean Wittke's insight man-American communities. We read with into human nature, war—sympathies, and interest, for example, his impressions on Mil- sound critical judgments, make his subject waukee, Watertown, and Madison in 1851. live vividly in this admirably written book. At Milwaukee he stayed with G. F. Becker, a Here is an eloquent refutation of the idea colleague in his revolutionary agitation in that an important and distinguished biog- Paris. Of the "German Athens" he had raphy must deal with a person well known mixed feelings, writing sentimentally of Ger- and successful in at least some of his under- man bakeries, singing, and five-cent beer, and takings. bitterly of land speculators, low wages, bad Wilhelm Weitling was a German-born-and- working conditions, and the growing strength of the Catholic Church, to say nothing of the reared tailor, self-educated, and a significant cholera epidemic and swarms of mosquitos! figure in pre-Marxist revolutionary thought. He was also a leader in the workers' move- But the prime importance of Dean Wittke's ments in Germany, France, and Switzerland. book lies, of course, in the precise, fresh in- His romantic career as an organizer, his im- formation it provides on the migration of European ideologies to America, and on the prisonment, his relations in London with Karl reasons for their failure to take root. It lies Marx, are told with rich detail. Yet the larger further in the light it throws on the fate of importance of Weitling in ideology and in political refugees in the United States a cen- agitation is never obscured. Unlike the Marx- tury ago. Most of all, it rescues from obliv- ists, Weitling set much store on the forces of ion a poor, self-educated and somewhat un- religion and morality in the struggle for so- balanced idealist, with a burning passion cial justice. He did not, to be sure, pin any for social justice and with a consummate faith to democratic methods; he was, in faith in man's ability to create an intelligent truth, something of an egotist and a dictator. and just society, "If," Professor Wittke re- Given to making elaborate systems and marks, "faith in the ultimate perfectibility of schemes, he failed, like so many revolution- mankind should turn out to be only an illu- ists, to attach due weight to the forces that sion, it is at least a comforting illusion, and opposed his conception of social relation- it has been a major force in the history of ships. In America, to which Weitling fled in the human enterprise, for in all ages, men 1847, he edited Die Republik der Arbeiter; have had to walk part of their way by he organized German workers; he called the faith."

216 READERS CHOICE

This book testifies further to Dr. Wittke's tive events that have occurred less than a productivity in and mastery of a field he has century ago. Yet it is possible to write in done so much to create—German-American full detail of these recent events only while cultural relations in the nineteenth century, the memory of homely details are still fresh. within the larger context of immigration and This volume is well written, touches lightly of ideas and values. on many details, yet brings together in good MERLE CURTI order the pertinent events which seemed to University of Wisconsin multiply so rapidly in recent years. The volume is another stone in the mosaic which will eventually portray the history of the A Chapter of Franciscan History: The Sisters German Catholic immigration in the Middle of the Third Order of Saint Francis of West. In it we have the main features of Perpetual Adoration, 1849-1949. By zealous pioneers, of aid from the fatherland, SISTER M. MILETA LUDWIG, F.S.P.A. of the building of churches and schools, of (Bookman Associates, New York, 1950. devotion to education, and of zeal for chari- Pp. 455. $5.00.) table foundations. Now that these institutions The history of the Sisters of St. Francis of have ceased to be immigrant institutions but Perpetual Adoration is an account of remark- real pillars in the development of the Middle able zeal in religious and charitable activities. Wesl, il is imporlaiil that their stories be The founders of this community experienced fully told, and especially that chapter, now all the trials of pioneer life on the frontier well passed, in which they became strong plus the sacrifices necessary to establish an American institutions. institution of supererogatory virtue amidst circumstances scarcely helpful to ordinary THOMAS T. MCAVOY, C.S.C. accomplishments. The story of this com- University of Notre Dame munity begins with a group of Franciscan Tertiaries of Ettenbeuren, Bavaria, who were The Colonial Craftsman. By CARL BRIDEN- weary of the wars of western Europe and BAUGH. (New York University Press, desirous of serving God in the mission fields New York, 1950. Pp. 214. $4.25.) of America. The discipline they practiced in Ettenbeuren stood them well amidst their New York University affords a consider- trials in the New World. The deaths, in the able service to historians and antiquarians first years in this country, of Fathers Francis in the Anson G. Phelps lectureship in Amer- Anthony Keppeler and Mathias Steiger, who ican history, which alternates with the Stokes were the leaders and inspirers of these peasant lectureship in American politics. Famous and religious, along with other trials, was enough erudite scholars give these lectures, which to destroy their hopes. And in subsequent are afterward published by the University years there were other trials of internal re- Press. organization and external circumstances which Carl Bridenbaugh, director of the Institute were overcome only by the stern character of of Early American History and Culture at the early Sisters of the Community, especially Williamsburg, in the present work has main- of Mother Antonia. tained the standards of the series and has There is a parallel between the development added a satisfying contribution. of this community and the advancement of the The Colonial Craftsman is a notable ex- Catholic immigrant groups to whom they de- ploration into a somewhat disregarded aspect voted their efforts. In the pioneer settlement of the men who made those things which we they offered the manual labor necessary for now call antiques. We have been wont to the establishment of the Seminary of St. regard those artisans as sequestered beings, Francis. The next step was the provision of wholly engaged in their work and, with a elementary education. Then came normal few exceptions, dissociated from the life school training for its own members, high around them. schools, hospitals, homes for orphans and Dr. Bridenbaugh's research has given them the sick, and eventually also Viterbo College. flesh and blood and put them in their proper To all these as a proof of the heroic character status in society, not swaddling them with of their undertaking the Sisters added Per- romance but showing them among their fel- petual Adoration in their Chapel. low citizens as they really were after drop- It is very difficult to write in full perspec- ping their hammers and chisels and saws.

217 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

He studies the craftsmen of each colony Ohio Newspapers: A Living Record. By in turn, explaining the economic and social ROBERT C. W'HEELER. (The Ohio History factors which caused the artisans of one Press, Columbus, Ohio. 1950. Pp. 258. colony to differ from those of another. The $6.50.) Southern aristocracy treated indentured This selected collection of facsimile repro- craftsmen rather differently from the North- ductions of American newspapers from 1690 ern colonists, who regarded all men as having to the present is an enjoyable report of news- a certain equality. Moreover, the South was paper treatment of historical events as well almost altogether dependent on England for as a reference book for students of American the necessities of plantation life, except such history. as slave labor could produce. Among 126 full page reproductions of news- Philadelphia, predominantly Quaker in the papers and in the additional commentary on 18th century, manifested great tolerance the events which the pages record is the toward the personal affairs of its citizens. illustrated story of America's first, short-lived This was lacking in New England, which was newspaper, Publick Occurrences, published still more or less under theocratic domination. so that "people everywhere may better under- That was the reason for the wonderfully fine stand the Circumstances of Publique Affairs." furniture turned out by its Quaker cabinet- Succeeding pages span the communications makers, more elaborate than that of any revolution during more than 250 years, from other colony. The Quakers themselves dis- the days when pioneers' carts of household approved of baroquetry of every sort, but if their cusomers wanted rococo ornament, who goods carried also a printing press or a were they to refuse it? shirt-tail full of type to the present period of massive rotary presses, from the modest four- There were gradations of rank among the page sheets of yesterday to the bulky journals colonial artisans. The silversmiths stood of today, and from the time when months-old highest for they supplied the facilities of banks. When a tradesman accumulated a rather than seconds-old European events were considerable amount of silver coinage, he sources of timely news. Here is Peter Zenger's took the coins to a silversmith to be melted account in his New York Weekly Journal of down and made into useful vessels for home his trial in 1735 on a charge of printing or church. Thus these craftsmen, dealing on libelous and seditious statements. In succeed- an intimate basis with the foremost men of ing pages are local accounts of Indian wars, the community, were naturally closer to them the Boston massacre, the birth of the United than the cabinetmakers, the pewterers, or the States, the activities in the West of Aaron clockmakers. Burr, the Battle of Waterloo, the westward Besides the geographical variations in arti- migration, important incidents in Ohio, the sanship, the author discusses the differences coming of the telegraph, and succeeding between urban and rural workers and the events of historical significance. consequent variance in their civil and social Snyder and Morris' A Treasury of Report- status. "The Craftsman at Work" seems a ing reproduces examples through the centuries chapter written especially for antiquarians, of the reporter's craftsmanship. Allan Nevins' since it describes in great detail methods, American Press Opinion from Washington to materials, and processes used by various Coolidge preserves the flavor, decade by crafts. decade, of the editorial writer's development. The illustrations are taken from Diderot's The uniqueness of Mr. Wheeler's collection Encyclopedic Though they mirror French is its graphic representation of highlights in and even English methods, they remain the general and newspaper history of Amer- French in character, and this is a book about ica and the story of the printing press in this American crafts. country. The result is good entertainment Dr. Bridenbaugh by his unique approach and a source of useful reference material. In to his subject has broken down still further time, some diligent newspaper historians will the line of demarcation (already pretty thin) relate carefully the contents, decade by decade, between historian and antiquarian and offers of important American newspapers to the even more proof that antiques are history. socio-economic environment of their times.

CHARLES MESSER STOW RALPH 0. NAFZIGER New York World-Telegram and Sun University of Wisconsin

218 READERS CHOICE

The Territorial Papers of the United States. and Madison, individual surveyors. Such Volume XIV, The Territory of Louisiana places as St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve are also —Missouri, 1806-1814. Compiled and found to be strongly represented. This vol- edited by CLARENCE EDWIN CARTER. ume, like the others in the series, is expertly (Government Printing Office, Washing- edited. _ __. ton, 1949. Pp. vi, 915. $2.75.) OSCAR OSBURN WINTHER Dr. Clarence E. Carter has now produced Indiana University fourteen impressive volumes of United States territorial papers. The volume here reviewed The Territorial Papers of the United States. is the second of three relative to the Louis- Volume XVII, The Territory of Illinois, iana-Missouri Territory (Louisiana Territory, 1814-1818. Compiled and edited by 1805-12; renamed Missouri Territory. 1812). CLARENCE EDWIN CARTER. (Government Not unlike earlier volumes, the editor has Printing Office, Washington, 1950. made his selections from a great variety of $4.00.) government agency archives and miscellane- ous and scattered personal papers. He has Clarence E. Carter, of the Division of His- adhered to his original plan not to duplicate torical Policy in the Department of State, has already published documents unless such passed one more of the milestones in his pro- items have been inaccurately printed or are digious program of printing territorial pa- now extremely scarce. pers. This volume of 750 pages is the second for the territory of Illinois. It contains the An ordinarily lavish federal government papers relating to the second and third ad- has been somewhat parsimonious in the matter ministrations of Governor Ninian Edwards of publishing historical documents of this together with the Executive Register for Illi- kind, and Dr. Carter has served notice to nois Territory, 1809-1818. his readers that "with a limited supply of During the first two years of the period in- funds available the compiler has had to re- cluded in this volume Illinois was the western mind himself continuously to exercise econ- theater for the War of 1812. British and omy of space and time. . . ." The procedure, American soldiers opposed one another on then, raises the question: who can decide what the Mississippi, and the alliances made with is important and what is not important when the Indians gave trouble for over twenty it comes to selecting materials for publica- years—until finally old Black Hawk and his tion? Granted that the compiler has here British band were deported from the state in exercised good judgment and intelligence in 1832. making his selections (and this appears to be Of course many of the papers concern land the case), neither the reviewer nor the con- claims and rights to boil salt, and in such sumer of these volumes has much of an idea correspondence may be found the skeleton of about the nature of the material left unpub- the state's economic history. The reader's lished. The specialist in territorial history, imagination, however, must put the flesh of the person wishing to do definitive work, must life on these solid bones of fact. In the necessarily by-pass the Territorial Papers printed correspondence also are many letters and go directly to the original documents in from Congressional Delegate Nathaniel Pope search of desired materials. —the man who kept Chicago from being a This middle volume (1806-14) of the Louis- part of Wisconsin by extending the northern iana-Missouri trilogy includes papers of the border of Illinois far enough north to include following administrations: Acting Governor both the Galena lead mines and the swampy Joseph Browne, 1806-07; Acting Governor area at the mouth of the Des Plaines and Frederick Bates, 1807-08; Governor Meri- Chicago rivers. In the book, too, is the cor- wether Lewis, 1808-09; second administra- respondence of Morris Birkbeck, the English- tion of Acting Governor Bates, 1809-10; man who first brought intellectual culture to Governor Benjamin Howard, 1810-13; and the backwoods settlements in southern Illi- the first administration of Governor William nois. In short, this is the bedrock to which Clark, 1813-14. These governors are listed any serious student of Illinois history must by last names only in the Table of Contents, sink his shaft for information. In addition to but full names may be found in the index. its usefulness as a source, this volume may As may be expected, a heavy proportion of well be used by students as an example of the the material bears upon these executive offi- best technique for editing historical docu- cers; also Indian tribes, Presidents Jefferson ments.

219 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

The territorial register, or log, transcribed vainly to the Negroes to "forsake the wicked in this volume, is one of three. The first, con- and stupid men who would involve you in sisting of the original notes, may now be this folly." In 1876, when the whites under found in the State Archives at Springfield, Hampton's generalship recaptured political Illinois. The second is reproduced here. It control, they owed their success to the con- lacks some of the notes in the first but in- ciliatory, orderly policy set by Hampton him- cludes several additions. This draft was pub- self—a policy of condemning violence and lished by the Illinois State Historical Library intimidation and of trying to win Negroes' in 1901 under the editorship of Edmund J. votes through appeals to their better judg- James, a most competent scholar. Dr. Carter's ment. In that famous campaign Hampton transcription corrects certain misprints in the told the Negroes: "I pledge my faith . . . earlier publication and adds entries that were that if we are elected, as far as in us lies, omitted. The third mauscript register was we will observe, protect, and defend the originally made from the second for transmit- rights of the colored man as quickly as [of] tal to Washington. Only parts of this have any man in South Carolina." After the elec- been preserved in the records of the Depart- tion Hampton said: "I regarded myself as ment of State so the second copy, although having been elected by the colored people; not the final draft, may be considered the that I had received not less than 17,000 votes most complete. from them. I felt that I was the governor of JAY MONAGHAN the colored people as much as the white Springfield, Illinois people, and that their rights would be pro- tected as fully as the others." That Hampton was sincere in these statements he proved in Wade Hampton and the Negro: The Road his two terms as governor. Not Taken. By HAMPTON M. JARRELL. (University of South Carolina Press, Co- Dr. Jarrell admires his distant kinsman, lumbia, 1949. Pp. xi, 209, appendix, and has developed forcefully the thesis that bibliography, index. $3.50.) Hampton exemplified a courageous and Wade Hampton owned plantations in South statesmanlike vision in Southern politics, a Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and vision that could encompass the rights and was one of the few ante-bellum Southerners needs of both races. He laments the fact that who could count his slaves by the hundreds. it has been extremists on both sides (like What was much rarer, he candidly expressed Stevens and Sumner in the North, Tillman his doubts about the wisdom and soundness and Gary in the South) whose dogmatism of slaveholding. Notwithstanding the title of and prejudices have forced political action on this book, Dr. Jarrell has told us nothing the question of Negroes' rights. It would be about Hampton as an owner of Negro labor salutary if this excellent book could be read before 1861 or as a manager of it after 1865. widely in the South and particularly in South Instead, he has devoted his attention exclu- Carolina, where Hampton is remembered sively to political conflicts that centered about mainly as "the hero who smashed Negro- the Negro's role in South Carolina affairs in carpetbagger rule in the state." the post-bellum generation. The book might Emory University JAMES RABUN well have been titled "Wade Hampton and the Negro in Politics." Captain Sam Grant. By LLOYD LEWIS. (Little In 1865 Hampton led a small group of Brown and Company, Boston, 1950. South Carolinians who tried to find a way of Pp. viii, 512. $6.00.) giving to freed men the opportunity to vote, without at the same time permitting their 3-2 One of the minor mysteries of American majority to control the state. This moderate biography—comparable to the problem of group proposed opening the suffrage to all, how Abraham Lincoln could have evolved blacks and whites alike, who could meet from humble beginnings to greatness—is the slight educational and property qualifica- evolution of Ulysses S. Grant from abject tions. Such fare was too strong for white failure to scintillating martial success. The stomachs in the South, and was rejected by problem of "explaining" Grant fascinated the South Carolina constitutional convention military and political campaign biographers of 1865. Then as the Radical plan of Recon- during Grant's life. Some imaginative biog- struction pushed South Carolina into a deep raphers concocted elaborate theories to ac- quagmire of misrule, Hampton appealed count for Grant, and many of them sought

220 READERS CHOICE

out the general's acquaintances of childhood man to furnish our imaginations with at least and youth and encouraged them to anecdotal a few relevant and substantial facts. Mr. reminiscences. The stories thus extracted Woodford supplies facts liberally, and his in- were as voluminous as those concerning Lin- struction is easy to take. As an orientation coln's hidden years, while the verifiable data course in this biographical subject, the Wood- of Grant's four decades of failure were even ford book meets a need of our generation. more meager than the facts of Lincoln's Cass was a New Hampshire man by birth, career. as was Webster; he inherited Federalist poli- The dubious nature of his material proved tics, as did Webster. Moving while still young no deterrent to the author of Captain Sam to pioneer Ohio, he grew up in that back- Grant. Intended as the first of a multi-vol- woods society, became a Democrat and re- umed biography, the book is a compilation mained one for the rest of his life. Michigan of anecdotes completely relieved of critical became his second home. Here he served as analysis. The story presents Grant as a team- territorial governor during six successive ap- ster, traveler, and accomplished horseman pointments, said to be the longest term of in his childhood, and follows him through ofHcc of any territorial governor. He worked his cadet days at West Point, his courtship, hard to build up Detroit and Michigan, and the Mexican war, marriage, life at army succeeded. From the city by the narrows he posts, resignation, and successive failures as entered Jackson's cabinet, left it for the French a Missouri farmer, a St. Louis real estate mission, returned to serve his State as a agent, and a Galena clerk. It ends with his Senator, his party as one of its chieftains, appointment as colonel of a regiment of Illi- and his country as an unwavering proponent nois volunteers. Throughout the story errors of union. of fact elaborate the naive interpretation Intelligent, industrious, a man of principle, which dodges all issues. The author did not, slow to break with the scheme of things for instance, attempt to explain how a com- political that had kept the Union together petent mathematician and a successful army during four increasingly tense decades, Lewis quartermaster could have been so consistent Cass, a Northern Democrat of large civic a failure in all business undertakings. Nor worth, deserves well of his country. did he suggest that Grant might have learned Like Van Buren, Cass acted with the something from his military and civil career Southern Democrats, loyally and for patriotic which would prove valuable in the campaigns purposes—also with the hope of becoming of the Civil War. The volume, in fact, falls president. (He missed this prize in 1848 far below its author's account of the Lincoln though not by many votes.) Though Van myth, his history of Chicago, or his biog- Buren decided in the late 1840's that the raphy of W. T. Sherman. The posthumous South was asking too much, and so forsook publication of what must have been a pre- his old friends, Cass, less flexible, less adapt- liminary draft detracts from an excellent rep- able, stayed in Buchanan's cabinet until utation. „, r. i r December, 1860, when he resigned. Alive in WILLIAM B. HESSELTINE 1864, he thought then that a vote for McClellan University of Wisconsin was a vote for the right ballot box. This transplanted Yankee, made into a Middle- Lewis Cass, the Last Jeffersonian. By FRANK Westerner, formed himself into a cooperator B. WOODFORD (Rutgers University Press, with Calhoun and Polk that the Union should New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1950. endure. We of today may find hard to under- Pp. ix, 380. $5.00.) stand, in all respects, the philosophic balance Mr. Woodford is a Detroit newspaperman of this Northern Democrat's mind. But Union whose interest in Lewis Cass arose by reason was more important to him than slavery. of his Detroit residence. In that city are many In further praise of Mr. Woodford's attrac- reminders of Cass—a street, a school, and so tive but essentially superficial treatment, one forth. The book that resulted from this in- may add that it should stimulate some young terest makes good reading: the tempo of the historian who wants a large subject to under- narrative is rapid, the tale is well told, the take a deep, many-sided study of this Mr. reader's interest in the hero's career is early Democrat, model of 1850. It is a task worth attracted and never lost. Lewis Cass is rein- the doing. troduced to us; we had quite forgotten about FULMER MOOD him. It is time we learned enough about the The University of Texas

221 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951

The New Stars: Life and Labor in Old brood supported the mistress with unflinching Missouri. By MANIE MORGAN as ar- devotion. It was an inspiring example of ranged by Jennie A. Morgan. Edited, loyalty often found in the relationship of with an introduction, by Louis Filler. master and slave in these households. The I The Antioch Press, Yellow Springs, development of the children of the household Ohio, 1949. Pp. xviii, 301. $3.75.) of whom Manie Morgan was one, the daily When John Richard Green began his study family life of the plantation, the break-up of English history, he complained that he of that life incident to the Civil War. supply found it a story of "trumpet and drum," a occasions which call upon Mary Jane Kendley procession of English kings, of battles won and Aunt Lucy, to care for and direct the and lost. Green rejected this method of household. It is a most interesting narrative. history writing as inadequate, declaring that Contrasted with conditions of modern life, history should reflect the life of a people perhaps the most striking reaction which rather than a procession of captains. Certain arises from these pages is the narrow limita- it is that Manie Morgan's story of life and tions of the life of that day as contrasted labor in old Missouri is a narrative which with the life of today. The difficulty of travel reflects the life of people. That life is only appears through the pages of the story. It remotely touched by kings and captains. may very well be true that the expanding Witness the brief reference to Lincoln, Gen- contacts incident to the interchange of com- eral Sterling Price, and Walt Whitman. merce and westward emigration of people Manie Morgan lived only ten years less had as much to do with the destruction of than a century. Her story embraces perhaps the old order as the Civil War itself. thirty years. The field of observation re- A fuller understanding of Manie Morgan's flected in her memoirs is a narrow one story is supplied by Dr. Louis Filler by way limited to her own family and its immediate of introduction to the book. kinsfolk and neighbors. It affords a portrayal ALLEN MCREYNOLDS of the life of the plantation owners in Mis- Carthage, Missouri souri prior to and during the Civil War. These people brought to Missouri the fruits of a civilization originating in Virginia and Southern Politics in State and Nation. By moving through Tennessee and Kentucky into V. 0. KEY, JR. (Alfred A. Knopf. New Missouri. It was a civilization of high ideals, York, 1949. Pp. xxvi, 675. Illustrations, but of limited outlook. Its followers found maps. Trade, $6.00, text, $4.50.) the pattern of their lives interrupted and in This study of modern Southern politics is most cases destroyed by the abolition of an admirable book that probes deeply be- slavery and the brutality of border warfare. neath the stereotype. Many of its findings As ihe story develops, the two principal are based on statistical studies which are figures emerge, Mary Jane Kendley and Aunt clearly presented in maps and graphs. Also Lucy. The early death of Winfred Kendley a considerable amount of field work, inter- left Mary Jane Kendley the head of her views with politicians and citizens, contributes household. It was a responsibility which she to a feeling of realism in its conclusions. The promptly assumed and vigorously maintained. author has a critical approach to his subject, If at limes the path of life she marked out for is temperate—in his judgments, and his style herself and her children seemed a bit austere, is vigorous and enlivened by irony. He has it is to be remembered that the leadership chosen to confine his study to the eleven rested upon her shoulders and only by the former Confederate states, which seems un- assertion of that leadership could she carry fortunate, for a comparison with Kentucky, forward responsibilities which seemed to be Missouri, Maryland, and Oklahoma would hers alone. No less devoted to her duties have given a valuable perspective. was Aunt Lucy, the head of the Negro house- This study is rich in provocative opinions hold in the Kendley menage. If Mary Jane and conclusions. It strengthens the thesis Kendley set for herself stern and difficult advanced by U. B. Phillips that the central standards of accomplishment as the leader theme of Southern history remains the Negro. of the Kendley family, Aunt Lucy and her A Southern liberal hates to admit this fact,

222 READERS CHOICE for such an integrator of Southernism seems Southern mores as to voting. In contrast to to be a denial of modern findings concerning the voting records of Ohio and New York, the superficiality of race. Also, it means that where over 55 percent of the citizens over the dead hand of tradition strongly hampers 21 years of age vote, slightly over 10 per- Southern development. Mr. Key believes that cent of such citizens vote in Virginia, which the clue to Southern politics lies in the fact has the lowest voting record among Southern that the black belts, a distinctive minority stales. The one-party system and the exclu- interest, have long been able to impose their sion of Negroes from voting partly explain ideology and special problems upon the much this disparity, but also the existence of the larger white belts. Thus, the one-party system poll tax (particularly the cumulative poll tax) in many Southern states excludes as many has resulted, and running through this ac- as 10 percent of the white voters. The pro- count like a melancholy refrain is the record portion of rural voters in the South is much of the evils of this system. Despite the one- higher than urban voters. The main device party system, however, the author shows the in disfranchising the Negro has not been existence of a tremendous variety of political literacy tests or poll taxes but the white behavior in the Southern states. Each state primary, which has been destroyed by a he cleverly characterizes, such as "Virginia: Supreme Court decision of 1944. Mr. Key Political Museum Piece"; "Tennessee: The sees a slow, gradual evolution in Southern Civil War and Mr. Crump"; "Florida: Every society, by which the black belts will con- Man for Himself"; and "North Carolina: Pro- tinue lo shrink, cities to grow accompanied gressive Plutocracy." He shows that faction- by a strengthening of labor, and social con- alism in state politics does not perform the ditions to mature from an activation of the same functions as a two-party system, par- Republican Party. There is a curious lack ticularly in obscuring issues, and one amazing of recognition in this remarkable study of conclusion is that the Republican Party does how the progress of liberalism can be accel- not make a real effort to increase its mem- erated by the influence of education which is bership, but engages in shadow boxing. His making a rapid advance in the Southern portrayal of Southern demagogues is very states. discerning; Huey Long arouses his genuine CLEMENT EATON admiration, for he possessed political genius University oj Kentucky and actually carried out his program of popular benefits, while Talmadge was a hypo- crite who played ball with the conservative Washington, Past and Present, a Pictorial business interests. The sad aspect of the History of the Nations Capital. By emergence of demagogues in the South is the CHALMERS M. ROBERTS. (Public Affairs unwillingness of well-educated, able men to Press, Washington, D.C. [1949-50]. lead the people in the fight for social welfare; Pp. 218. $4.50.) "the people must take their leaders where This book is a definite contribution to they find them." history. Whatever else may come of the many Mr. Key's study contains excellent dis- proposals for marking the Sesquicentennial cussions of the South in national politics and of Washington, this one has been carried out of the effect of poll taxes and literacy tests in good measure. on Southern voting. He demonstrates that The story is told chiefly in photographs, the Dixiecrat movement of 1948 was a black beginning with the crude effects of tintype belt movement assisted by the anti-New Deal days and coming down to this morning's conservatives. In regard to Southern soli- spectacular "news shot." The grouping of darity of voting in Congress Mr. Key finds contrasting views of the city has been well that most of the questions evoking high thought out, and the captions are both inter- Southern cohesiveness involved race consider- esting and instructive. For example, the ations. The occasional coalitions of Southern handful of men who made up the Congress Democrats and Republicans in ihe Senate as George Washington and John Adams knew were produced mainly by a common interest it stands opposite the far larger body debating in agriculture and a common antipathy toward the Atlantic Pact. Pennsylvania Avenue when organized labor. One of the most valuable the foundation of the Treasury was being aspects of this volume is the revelation of laid compares with a thoroughfare choked

223 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 with trolleys, taxicabs and jay-walkers. The The People's Colleges: A History of the New earliest view of the Capitol merely suggests York State Extension Service in Cornell the modern stately dome. The base of the University and the State, 1876-1948. Monument makes one wonder how it was By RUBY GREEN SMITH. (Cornell Uni- ever completed. Altogether, these contrasts versity Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 1949. Pp. xix, offer an excellent record of what L'Enfant 593. $4.75.) imagined and of how nearly or how inade- The People's Colleges is superb educational quately his conception has been realized. On Americana. It presents the fascinating story the whole, while he might find something to of agricultural extension in the State of New condemn, he would find much to praise in York since its beginnings in 1876. It is the the most beautiful of all American cities and, story of a unique American educational serv- as some maintain, in fact the most beautiful ice that has contributed immeasurably to the city in the world. bounty of our agriculture and to the comforts The text, too, is well-planned. It discusses and satisfactions of rural life. With local the growth and development of Washington variations it is a story that can be written for in terms of the Senate and the House; every State in the union and for the terri- inaugurations with their ever-increasing pag- tories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. eantry; the long efforts to create Consti- Here are presented in lush detail descrip- tution Avenue out of the old canal; the tions and analyses of the programs, person- changes directly traceable to the administra- alities, and procedures that comprised agri- tion of one political faction or the other. The cultural extension in action, from the stories of all the wars are presented, very "Farmers' Institutes" of the 1880s to the briefly yet in enough detail to show the im- complex services of agricultural extension pact of each upon the city, from the disasters during World War II. Out of her long ex- and alarms of 1813 and 1861 down to those perience in the national and state extension pushing, sprawling agencies of two World service from 1917 to 1946, Miss Smith se- Wars that destroyed forever the "small town" lects abundant material to give vibrancy and atmosphere cherished by the old residents. meaning to cooperative extension. The great The White House as it began, as it went personalties of Cornell University—presidents, through its many adventures, and as it will deans of agriculture, directors of home eco- be when it has been reconstructed is fully nomics, professors and teachers—are all here, covered. Some light is thrown upon the'world all united in service to the people of the State of New York. of diplomatic teacups and cocktail glasses, of press conferences, of lobbies, and of hard Here, too, are the people of rural and, struggles for social leadership. It was per- later, urban New York State as they are haps inevitable that the tone of the text served through the countless avenues of agri- should be colored by present political senti- cultural extension. Here is concrete illustra- ment, and, even so, it serves very well to make tion of that hallmark of extension—reciproc- a suitable background and a sufficient ex- ity between the University and the people of planation for the illustrations. its State. As the author points out in her Presumably, it was considerations of cost preface: "There is vigorous reciprocity in which resulted in the use of a paper rather the Extension Service because it is with the below the standard that might fairly have people, as well as 'of the people, by the been expected but, as it stands, the book people, and for the people.' It not only consequently will be within the reach of many carried knowledge from the State Colleges to more readers. It is recommended to all, and the people, but it also works in reverse; it especially to those who have formed the habit carried from the people to their State Col- of visiting Washington regularly to see the leges practical knowledge whose workability cherry blossoms or to attend one national has been tested on farms, in industry, in homes, and in communities. In ideal exten- convention or another. They can now not sion work, science and art meet life and prac- only see the city as it is but also have the tice." This is the ideal of all extension work, means of learning that there has been more general as well as agricultural. to the history of the country's center than the daily tailspin of politics. As rural-urban lines grow less and less dis- tinct, agricultural and general extension find A. D. TlTRNBULL increasingly large areas for cooperation, a Provincetown, Massachusetts fact underscored by the inclusion in this basi-

224 READERS CHOICE cally rural book of an excellent chapter on nacity, and physical vigor enabled him to the New York School of Industrial and Labor perform prodigies in this field. He was quite Relations, which is also located at Cornell a character. You will enjoy meeting him. University. The real significance of the book is twofold. The People s Colleges affords heart-warm- It makes a distinct contribution to our under- ing reading not only for extension workers standing of the Sioux. We sense the excite- everywhere but for all people interested in ment of Indian warfare, the preparations, the the greatest organized adult education en- roles of the old men, the soldiers and the deavor of our times. partisans on the full-fledged campaign, the special position of the soldiers in the camp. LORENTZ H. ADOLFSON We better understand the frequency of Indian University of Wisconsin outbreaks when we realize that raids were often undertaken simply for the scalp of one Iron Face. The Adventures of Jack Frazer or two warriors, or even of a woman; that Frontier Warrior, Scout, and Hunter. A the hunt was often staged without the consent Narrative Recorded by "Walker-in the of the tribe on whose lands it took place, Pines." (Henry Hastings Sibley.) Edited with chance encounters with members of the with introduction and notes by THEO- other tribe almost equally likely to result in DORE C. BLEGEN and SARAH A. DAVIDSON. war or peace; that major massacres might be Foreword by STANLEY VESTAL. (Caxton undertaken to avenge a single death. We pick Club, Chicago, 1950. Pp. 206. $7.50.) up information on the peculiar mores of hunting on the range by day or by night; This is the autobiography of Iron Face, or on the relative merits of the Northwest gun Joseph Jack Frazer, a half-breed Dakota and the Kentucky rifle; on elopements, gam- Sioux, nephew of the noted Simon Frazer, bling, and drinking bouts, the latter policed born in 1806 "at the mouth of the Bad Axe by young abstainers designated in advance River" in Wisconsin. It is an unusual and to see that the rest did not come to harm. an important book. Taken down by General There is miscellaneous and revealing informa- Sibley as Frazer told the story, it gives rare tion about ball games, superstitions, cures insight into the thinking and attitudes as well for exposure to measles. as the customs and mores of the Dakotas. Jack is a fascinating figure. One of those Much of the action takes place in the who served the United States in the Black Eau Claire and Chippewa valleys, around Hawk War despite the risk of being mistaken Trempealeau, Lake Pepin, St. Anthony's Falls, for a Sac or a Fox, he was seriously wounded the St. Cloud, Embarrass, Buffalo, and Willow in the massacre on the west bank of the Rivers. Most of the fighting is part of the Mississippi, following the so-called battle near historic Sioux-Chippewa warfare, in which, his birthplace. A few years later he "turned incidentally, the historical record of the whites white" at the urging of Hercules Dousman enables the editors to check the remarkable and Joseph Roulette, and barely escaped with accuracy of the half-breed's memory. The his life during the uprising of 1862 in Minne- book is a real addition to Minnesota-Wiscon- sota. The bulk of the book and the more sin history. It is more importantly a real valuable part is about his life as a Dakota. contribution to our understanding of the nineteenth century Indian history of our In those earlier years he was unquestionably region. a bad actor. He flouted the religious taboos. His frequent love affairs contrasted violently Another point is worth comment. The with the tribal customs of courtship and mar- Sibley manuscript was printed in full in the riage. He was impetuous, unruly, vain. He got St. Paul Pioneer in weekly installments, from away with murder in the figurative as well as December, 1866, to March, 1867. Yet in com- the literal sense. Yet aside from frequent mon with a good deal of important material rebukes from his mother, occasional and appearing in the press, it lay unknown to thoroughly merited criticisms from a strangely historians, unused because unknown, until tolerant uncle, he escaped serious chastisement rescued from practical oblivion by the capable all but once in a career that makes one marvel editors and publishers of this volume. Iron at the self-control of his fellow tribesmen. Face is another important indication of the Not that Jack was all bad. He could be size of the nuggets that still await the patient generous, fun-loving, kind. He was a warrior prospector who with pen and sluice box will of renown, a hunter whose endurance, perti- tackle the sands of the rivers of newsprint

225 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951 which have flowed from the local presses of some analysis of the reasons for their leaving this country. God's country. Where Mrs. Rosenberry was CLIFFORD L. LORD primarily interested in enumerating the areas State Historical Society of Wisconsin to which New England culture was trans- planted, Holbrook has concerned himself with tracing some 2,000 individuals who moved The Yankee Exodus: An Account of Migra- hither and yon from the hill farms and tion from New England. By STEWART villages of the six New England states and H. HOLBROOK. (MacMillan Company, made themselves sufficiently well known or New York, 1950. Pp. xii, 398. $5.00.) financially successful in the West to rate space The trek of the New England Yankees in local histories and biographical volumes or from their rock-strewn hill farms to the lush "mug" books. Mrs. Rosenberry and Turner Genesee Valley, the Ohio country, the oak traced the transit of different cultures and openings of Michigan, the green prairies of their impact upon each other in the New Wisconsin and northern Illinois, the William- West while Holbrook provides almost a bio- ette Valley of Oregon is one of the great sagas graphical dictionary of the transplanted of American history. Deeply religious, warm Yankees spiced with accounts of some who supporters of public education, strongly ac- remained at home. quisitive, contentious, individualistic, conserv- The Yankee Exodus is a welcome book. ative in politics but prone to support humani- It is the product of wide reading, extensive tarian reforms, the Yankees wherever they research and numerous recollections, includ- went—and their adventurous spirits and their ing some of the author's. While it emphasizes search for gain took them into every corner unduly Yankee successes, passes over lightly of the republic—carried with them their the less pleasant characteristics and contri- culture and sought to impress it upon those butions of the New Englanders, neglects the of alien ways. The Yankee influence was migration of the loyalists and "Neutral penetrating, persuasive, and permanent but Yankees," and does not mention such rascals fortunately it has been modified, humanized, as Jay Gould and Russell Sage of New Eng- and democratized by contacts with other land ancestry, disregards the home mission- elements. ary movement, and has no discussion of the The Yankees were incorrigibly self-asser- impact of New England culture upon that of tive, insistent upon their own rectitude, and the foreign immigrant and the southern up- unduly critical, even intolerant, of the habits, lander, it provides both good reading and morals, and beliefs of others. In consequence understanding. they were not always liked but generally they Any person who has read history at all will were respected. Few could best them in have questions to ask the author. \ft hy was argument and none in bargaining. Native Winthrop Sargent, scion of a well-known shrewdness, ingenuity, thrift, and lack of Massachusetts family, who became territorial squeamishness in pressing a hard bargain governor of Mississippi and a large slave enabled some of them to acquire great wealth owner, omitted? Was not the Wadsworth and by the setting up of trust estates to pre- family which established itself as the landed serve it for several generations. gentry of the Genesee worthy of attention? Frederick Jackson Turner, Lois Kimball Where is Cyrus Woodman, distinguished for Mathews Rosenberry, Beverley Bond, Richard his leadership in the land and lumber business L. Power, and othex historians have studied and surely one of the most cultured \ ankees to good effect this Yankee emigration and the who ventured west? Elihu Washburne may impact it made upon other communities. Now not have been a top-ranking statesman but comes Stewart Holbrook, whose past incur- surely he deserves mention among a list of sions into history have produced exciting 2,000 expatriated Yankees. That the Rev. and dramatically presented narratives of the Josiah Grinnell aided in founding an Iowa lumber industry, to offer a new and more college of distinction is significant but so detailed story of the westward movement of also is the part he played in a number of the New Englanders. With spirit and color malodorous land and railroad schemes. Some the author follows these emigrants to their other hardheaded people who established new abodes, describes their success in busi- colleges and universities made sure that these ness, politics, education, and other professions institutions were located in the midst of their (apparently they never failed), and gives extensive landholdings which through appre-

226 READERS CHOICE ciation in price might return more than any It is perhaps unfair to complain of exagger- benefactions they gave or promised to give ation and undue detail and at the same time to the institutions. Samuel C. Pomeroy— to wish for more information concerning the "'Old Pom the Pious" to Jayhawkers—who investment of New England capital in the was cruelly but not inaccurately caricatured West and what return New Englanders ex- by Mark Twain, does not appear here as a acted. What of the investments in Wisconsin corrupt and sinister figure. One wishes for land of the Boston and Western Land Com- consideration of the leavening influence of pany, of Daniel Webster, Caleb Cushing, New Englanders in the areas to which they Henry Hubbard? How much of Harvard's migrated, or their contributions in such mat- wealth and museum resources came from ters as architecture, educational theory, read- dividends from the Calumet and Hecla mines ing habits, the establishment of town libraries in northern Michigan? Californians may not and state and local historical societies, town appreciate the generosity of Collis P. Hunt- planning, economic philosophy, manners and ington in establishing a cancer research hos- customs. Use of such authorities as J. Bartlett pital in Boston. Hoosiers certainly resented Brebner, James C. Malin, Paul D. Evans, the draining of the wealth of the Kankakee Harold Wilson, David M. Ellis, Ruth Higgins, valley by the "Yale Crowd," of whom Henry L. Ellsworth was the leader. Brown University Richard L. Power, yes and George Ade, in- undoubtedly profited from the 250,000 acres stead of so many local historians might have of land acquired by members of the Brown- provided the author with a better perspective. Ives-Goddard group in Illinois, Kansas, and The index volume of the Dictionary of Iowa. Part of the income derived from Abner American Biography would have permitted Coburn's fortuitous purchase of Wisconsin the substitution of more important individuals pine land and Gardiner Colby's exploitation for many of slight significance. Among of the Wisconsin Central Railroad went to those neglected persons who made distin- endow Coburn Classical Institute and Colby guished careers for themselves elsewhere College in Maine. are Samuel Allerton, meat packer, Charles As a Yankee emigrant born and reared in Crocker, Leland Stanford, and Collis P. Hunt- New Hampshire and Maine whose paternal ington, railroad magnates, Levi P. Morton, ancestor, was a "Neutral Yankee" in Nova banker and New York governor, Lyman Scotia, I found much pleasure in reading Trumbull, honest and liberal statesman, George Holbrook's study. Like the hundreds of Peabody, financier and philanthropist, Henry thousands of transplanted descendants of New H. Crapo, Michigan governor, Vernon L. Par- England I like to return to my native state rington, historian of liberal thought, Lorenzo for a vacation trip, roam over the green hill- Dow, religious zealot, and Dustin Farnham, sides, trace out the winding old roads that actor. have long since been "thrown up," poke Of the 14,000 people whose careers are around the cellar holes from which now grow sketched in the DAB 27 percent were natives overhanging maples, and follow up the vine- of New England. Holbrook offers no satis- covered stone fences. Like Holbrook, I like factory explanation why this section produced to project myself back into the past, to con- so many noteworthy men nor why they con- sider the nature of the life the farmers, their tributed so little in the esthetic and intel- wives and children once lived on these thin- lectual fields. Had the editors of the DAB soiled hard-scrabble farms, and to question been slightly less concerned with the ministry, whether the pioneers who cleared the forests third-rate literary figures, politicians and showed good judgment in expending their diplomats and more with agriculture, lumber- energies in improving land that was to return ing, and other business activities, had they so little. The good land has not been given enlarged their focus, widened their horizon, up to forests, only the poor unproductive and looked more to the West and South this land. I do not regard this rural emigration disproportion would have been less marked. as a "great tragedy" but on the contrary From the early period the New Englanders think of it as a wise move that was good for began to write history and in everything they the participants, for the area in the long run, have written, including Stewart Holbrook's and certainly for the land. If tragedy, lone- treatise, they have glorified or at least en- liness, isolation, old maidenhood resulted for larged upon the part their ancestors and con- some, as the author suggests, certainly the temporaries have played in shaping America. results were on the whole satisfactory.

227 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

Wherever 1 go 1 meet transplanted New present industrially retarded nations. It is Englanders who are planning to spend their much the same institution whether there is next vacation in Yankeeland. They consti- private or public ownership, democratic or tute the tourists who return with regularity totalitarian government. It is an autonomous to view the land of their youth or of their institution, with pluralistic functions. "At one ancestors. They are not "outlanders" for and the same time it is an economic, a they think and talk and read about New governmental and a social institution." It England constantly. They know the area assures an unprecedented production of eco- much better than some of its residents. They nomic goods and affords opportunities for will provide a broad market for this readable human development greater than any ever and stimulating book which will further their known. Its emergence into a position of desires to visit the mountains and valleys, predominance, however, can lead to "total the blueberry-covered hills, the serrated coast tyranny" and a slave existence for most and the placid lakes, the historic spots, the people, as Russia illustrates. As it has de- ancient cemeteries, the vanishing one-room veloped in the United States, however, it is school and their alma mater. the bulwark of freedom. There is "not one prime mover in our society but at least two: Cornell University PAUL W. GATES state and enterprise." If enterprise is allowed to continue to develop as "a self governing The New Society: The Anatomy of the In- plant community" it will give us "meaningful dustrial Order. By PETER F. DRUCKER. units of local self government" to replace in (Harper and Brothers, New York, 1950. function the political units of local govern- Pp. 356. $5.00.) ment which have become moribund. The union has a place "within the enterprise" as This is in no sense a historical study. Yet "the loyal opposition," but it "can never itself it is valuable to the historian because it is an become the government." It is management interpretation of the present-day American which must run the enterprise, as "the mass society and of world trends. Just as history production principle" which underlies the is vital for an understanding of the present, new society "is not a technology at all but so the present is valuable because it mirrors a concept of the organization of human the past. It serves as a guide to the historian work." Hence, the crucial problem is that of in his selection of interesting and significant developing and training qualified managers. data among the great mass of information This is one of the few places where Drucker which has been preserved about the past. sees need for any government intervention Peter Drucker is probably best classified in enterprise. While management should as an industrial sociologist. He surveys our select and train its successors, approval of the present-day industry and society from an qualifications by a government agency is overall point of view, as distinguished from necessary for the protection of society. the much narrower specialized approaches of the academic disciplines. He is a very keen A reading of The New Society explains observer and a bold, imaginative thinker. He why the man on the street in the Michigan is also a very influential man. He serves as automobile towns always refers to General an industrial relations consultant to several Motors as "The Corporation," with mingled of our largest corporations and appears to feelings of admiration, fear, and resentment. be the oracle currently in greatest repute There is much in it that is fearful also to an among top industrialists. He is particularly historical-minded American. In it there is close to the General Motors Corporation and lacking an appreciation of political democracy is popularly credited with having had a lot and the government we have developed. To to do with its recent pace-setting innovations Drucker our government appears to be the in industrial relations policy. great obstacle to a realization of all of the It is Drucker's thesis that we are now in full advantages which enterprise can give to the midst of "an industrial world revolution" our society, rather than as a major reason which is far more significant than the "isms" for our remarkable industrial development. which have given us so much concern. The To the reviewer, it seems that Drucker's "enterprise" has become "the decisive, the interpretation of the current scene would representative, and the constitutive institu- have been quite different if he were better tion" in all industrial countries and is in the grounded in history. But his keen observa- process of becoming equally important in the tions are thought-provoking and, at least

228 READERS CHOICE

partially, correct. They merit attention from club in the interests of the presidential candi- historians to test their accuracy, if for no dacy of Franklin Pierce, a Bowdoin alumnus. other reason than that they seem so very Following graduation in 1853 with a good profound to many Americans. scholastic record, Fuller studied in the law EDWIN E. WITTE office of an uncle and, for a period of six months, at the Harvard Law School, where University of Wisconsin he was a contemporary of Joseph H. Choate who later was to appear often before him in Melville Weston Fuller: Chief Justice of the the Supreme Court and whose argument won United States, 1880-1910. By WILLARD the approval of Fuller in the Income Tax L. KING. (Macmillan Company, New case. By 1855 he was admitted to the bar. York, 1950. Pp. x, 394. $5.00.) After a few months in the law office of an This is an excellent biography of a man uncle at Bangor, he returned to Augusta to who filled with grace and dignity the high assume the editorship of the Augusta Age position of Chief Justice of the United States with B. A. G. Fuller, his father's brother. By for more than two decades. March, 1856, he had been elected an alder- man, had been chosen president of the com- Over a period of many years, the author, mon council, and been made city solicitor. a prominent lawyer of Chicago, made it a Two months later he left for Chicago, the major avocation of his life to collect all of immediate occasion being a broken marriage the information he could respecting the life engagement. and career of Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller. The great quantity of information For thirty-two years he practiced law in assembled has been worked over with loving Chicago with constantly increasing success. care. The result is a book written in an His beginnings were difficult enough. Until eminently readable manner out of a full 1864 his income had not exceeded $2,000 a knowledge of its subject. year. But a practice that quite rapidly be- Mr. King points out that Chief Justice came very lucrative enabled him, with the Fuller's life divides naturally into three parts: aid of fortunate marriages, not merely to From his birth in Maine until he went to raise a large family in comfort but to weather Chicago at the age of twenty-three; his life heavy fire losses in the Chicago Fire of 1871. as a practicing lawyer until appointed to the The most famous of his earlier cases, at Supreme Court at the age of fifty-five; thence least, consisted in the representation of a Low the period of his service as Chief Justice of Church Episcopal rector in a doctrinal con- that court until his death in 1910 at the age troversy with a High Church bishop. His of seventy-seven. Two chapters are given to most important case was probably that in- the early life in Maine; seven to the Chicago volving rights to the land in the city of period; and the remaining sixteen to an Chicago extending from the tracks of the account and an evaluation of his judicial Illinois Central and other railroads to Lake career. Michigan. Fuller, as attorney for the city, Fuller was born in Augusta, Maine, on evolved theories the successful assertion of February 11, 1833, the son of Frederick A. which enabled the city to make good a claim and Catherine Weston Fuller. Both parents by it to the land. What seems quite certainly were members of early and prominent New his most notorious case was the Leslie M. England families. Because of their divorce Carter divorce case. The case was tried after when he was a few months old, he owed his Fuller became Chief Justice, but in its earlier rearing to his mother and his mother's phases he was senior counsel for Mr. Carter. parents. The grandfather, a member of the In vetoing in this case, as unnecessary to the Supreme Court of Maine, was exceedingly protection of his client's interests, a charge thrifty in disposition and, as often has hap- of improper association with Mrs. Carter on pened in a family where the purse strings are the part of certain Chicago men, Fuller an- held by the parsimonious male, it was the nounced that though a lifelong Democrat he women of the household who made possible was in this instance in favor of the protection for him a college education. of home industry. The college was Bowdoin, the family col- Mr. King points out that Fuller was a man lege. There he debated, declaimed, wrote who found the making of friends easy and poetry, and played politics. In the course of agreeable. The fact that a man was an the latter activity he organized a Democratic (Continued on page 244)

229 Here is a new view of pioneering in agri- culture, and an account of a most un- usual pioneer agriculturist. The story of the Robhins farm, significant in show- ing the vulnerability of large-scale farm- ing in Wisconsin, nevertheless uncovers a hidden source of our dairy tradition.

John V. Robbins, Pioneer Agriculturist by Charles L Hill

It is difficult for us, of the present generation, to understand how much courage it took in pioneer days to break away from wheat rais- ing and turn to dairying. As compared with wheat growing, dairying requires a spirit of initiative, constant care and study, a great deal of sound judgment and willingness to work hard during 365 days a year. The combination of these qualities was found in a group of farmers whose spirit of leadership made them venture into a new and fundamen- tally different field of agricultural industry. One of them was John V. Robbins, of the town of Burke, Dane County. Major Became the First Registered It seems impossible that the accomplish- Sire Used in Wisconsin ments of Mr. Robbins should have been for- gotten for more than eighty years. I have was one half of a mile east of U.S. 151, six always been interested in studying the work miles northeast of Madison. Then Mr. Jones of early agricultural leaders in Wisconsin but told me that he was a classmate in college had never even heard the mention of his of Mr. Robbins' son, who had been a leading name. lawyer in Chicago and was still active. From One noon while I was Commissioner of Ag- him I learned the rest of the story. riculture in the early 1930's, I went in the John V. Robbins was a wholesale boot and department's vault where there was a com- shoe merchant in Cincinnati, who came to plete set of the Reports of the Wisconsin Madison in 1857 to hunt prairie chickens. Agricultural Society from 1852 on. In looking Standing on the top of the hill where this at the volume for 1860 I found as a frontis- barn still stands, he was so entranced by the piece the picture of a bull and barn—accom- prospect that he at once bought 700 acres of panying my story—and was intrigued by it. land, including the site of the barn. There At the Register of Deeds Office for Dane he built a fine large house as well as other County I found that Mr. Robbins' farm was farm buildings. His land comprised what are in the township of Burke. Someone suggested now some of the surrounding farms, among that I might get some information from them the land now owned by former gover- Burr Jones, then more than ninety years of nor Rennebohm. age and one of the leading lawyers of the As a breeder of Guernsey cattle I had State in his day. known that, before herdbooks were started, He proved to be just the man to go to; any animals coming from the Channel Islands, he told me where the farm lay; the barn or perhaps in some cases even the west coast

230 HILL: JOHN V. ROBBINS of France, were in this country known as became the first registered dairy sire used Alderneys. There are many references to in Wisconsin. Alderneys in the American Cultivator, from Mr. Robbins continued to increase the size 1816 to 1840. I found in the Wisconsin of his herd until in 1860 he milked 120 cows; Farmer in February, 1854, and Decem- he had other breeds but preferred the Alderney ber, 1854, pictures of Jersey cattle under cows to any other. Census figures show he that name, including one of the cow Europa had 90 head of cattle besides cows in 1860. that founded the first well-known family of Both butter and cheese were made on his this breed. Nevertheless there remained a farm. doubt whether the Robbins bull, Major, had Wisconsin was beginning to be a factor in actually been a purebred Jersey. the market by 1859, when its farmers pro- I wrote my old friend Professor T. L. duced over a million pounds of cheese. New Haecker to ask if he knew anything about York was the dairy state of the day, pro- this bull or other alleged Alderneys owned ducing as much cheese as all other states

Original Stone Barn Present Barn on the Robbins Farm; Early Stone Barn Attached at Right by Mr. Robbins. I knew that the American combined. Someone in New York must have Jersey Cattle Club was not founded until thought it was time to show Wisconsin how 1868, and that their former secretary, Mr. hopeless were its chances of ever rivaling Gow, in his history of the Jersey cow gave New York. With that in mind a cheese was the date of the first registered Jersey coming sent to the 1859 State Fair that weighed 650 to Wisconsin as 1870. Professor Haecker pounds. A monster cheese of 1,650 pounds had had a herd of purebred Jerseys on his was made on the Robbins farm and exhibited Cottage Grove farm in the 1880's and was at the Wisconsin State Fair the next year. well informed about the breed. A little calculation will show how difficult Mr. Haecker wrote me very fully about a feat this was. Robbins' 120 cows probably Major and others of Mr. Robbins' Alderneys. would have produced no more than 2,400 Mr. Robbins brought the first of them from pounds of milk daily. It would take about Massachusetts in 1857 or 1858. The bull had 16,500 pounds to make that cheese, an entire been largely used around Madison and in week's production. It is unlikely that the other parts of Dane County, and the owners milk could be preserved long enough to of some of his later progeny had wished that utilize an entire week's accumulation. With- these could be recorded. Mr. Haecker went out doubt he had many neighbors making to Massachusetts and spent two weeks tracing cheese on their farms and he must have the cattle and was able to prove that Major gathered the curd from many farms and and a cow named Mendota were actually pressed it at his dairy. purebred Jerseys. They were then recorded The evolution of any industry is always and Robbins' Major, born April 16, 1857, an interesting study, and Mr. Robbins should

231 WISCONSIN1 MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 be credited with taking a significant step. guarantee that the fertility of the land would Charles Rockwell was credited with making be maintained. The housing for livestock was the first Wisconsin cheese on his farm in ingeniously designed, but it startles the mod- Jefferson County in 1836 or 1837 and a ern observer to learn that this great farm Mrs. Pickett of Jefferson County made up with its hundreds of acres and dozens of the milk from several farms in her farm workers had at its service, machinery valued kitchen in 1841, thus initiating cooperative at no more than $1,000. cheesemaking. If Mr. Robbins did gather With a driving force like J. V. Robbins in the curd of other farmers, especially if he its center this farm was bound to become did it regularly, he should be credited with more than an efficient production unit. Its having one of the first factories in our State. fine house, set on the brow of a hill com- When I talked to Mr. Robbins' son in manding a magnificent prospect of rolling Chicago, he said he remembered well the valleys and the lakes and spires of Madison, 1,650-pound cheese and recalled that the became the center of an interesting social hired men on the farm lived on this cheese life. His son told me that he remembered for months. He also remembered eating some when William H. Seward and Stephen A. of it in Massachusetts the next year at his Douglas were entertained at the farm. He grandmother's. also told that his father entertained the Madi- A study of the census of Dane County for son "Wide Awakes" at the farm during the the year 1860 reveals the outstanding position first year of the war. They marched out occupied by Mr. Robbins in the nascent dairy from Madison, doubtless with flags and industry of Wisconsin. An examination of torches, and were welcomed by seventy men the census records of 2,022 farmers in seven- on horseback—with pitchforks over their teen (out of thirty-four) townships of Dane shoulders—lined up on each side of the road County shows that 1,809 farmers produced which led to the farmhouse. Evidently Mr. less than 400 pounds of butter individually, Robbins had neighbors who would help him the amounts ranging from 20 to 375 pounds entertain as well as make cheese. The ex- of butter per farm, 196 farmers produced istence of a trotting race track on the flat between 400 and 700 pounds individually, 8 near the main road, and the presence in the farmers between 800 and 900 pounds per stable of trotting horses as well as trained farm, and 9 farmers turned out between coach horses added to the pleasures of the 1,000 and 3,000 pounds per farm. Only establishment. 173 farmers produced cheese, the amounts Mr. Robbins became a vice-president of ranging from 25 pounds to 2,000 per farm the State Agricultural Society in 1860 and with 85 percent of the farmers producing less exhibiled his slock extensively and with suc- than 500 pounds individually. John V. Rob- cess at the State Fair sponsored by the Society. bins stands out with a record of 4,000 pounds The vulnerability of Robbins' enterprise be- of butter and 6,000 pounds of cheese, a came evident with the beginning of the Civil unique record for that period and that region. War: its lavish use of labor. With the depar- In addition to his bold pioneering in the ture of the young men it became impossible dairying field Mr. Robbins attacked the prob- to carry on, and he gave up. His younger lems of large-scale farming with imagination. brother, George W. Robbins, became lieu- Although contemporary reports say nothing tenant colonel of the Eighth Wisconsin Regi- of his hay crops, it is evident from the figure ment—to which was attached Wisconsin's of land use on his farm that a third of it historic war eagle, Old Abe; he rose to the (listed as "unimproved") lay in natural rank of colonel and fought at Vicksburg and grasses for hay and pasturage. A satisfactory was wounded in that battle. crop rotation was based upon his devotion Later the family moved into Madison and to root crops. These occupied about a tenth lived in what has since become the College of his acreage, in addition to which there Women's Club, the old Vilas home on Gilman were market-garden operations which grossed Street. They moved back to Cincinnati in $900 in 1859. The presence of hundreds of 1865, the son remembering their arrival in cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep was a further Cincinnati the morning of Lincoln's death.

232 The early types of stoves discussed by Mrs. Whyte bring reminiscences. Where have you encountered such stoves? Per- haps in a museum, perhaps in grand- mother's house, or they may have been a part of the household in which you were brought up. by Bertha K Whyte

Early American Stoves

A great many of us have lived through a gular box with a front door above a pro- complete revolution in the methods of house jecting hearth; it had legs, a flat top, and a heating and cooking, but there is very little chimney. The Quaker stove was a develop- literature that recognizes that the old types ment of the Shaker but had an oven with a of stoves have become items of interest to door on the side, a sunken hot-water kettle the collector. in the rear next to the chimney, and two lids There are a few pictures in a book called on the front section over the coals. The Growth of Industrial Art, by Benjamin (4) Cooking Stoves—Strictly speaking, Butterworth, published by the Government there are two types of cooking stoves: the Printing Office in 1892. Antiques Magazine cookstove and the range. The latter was a and other periodicals dealing with collections later development with an air circulating sys- contain a few brief articles. Catalogs of old tem around the oven. They were both made stove companies are to be found, and a few of cast iron and they had in some cases a old stoves may be viewed in use and in reservoir for hot water. The cookstove ordi- museums; but in general the subject is virgin narily did not have a back with a high closet, soil for The Collector. Such being the case, but the range generally did. I offer my own list of early types of stoves: (5) Laundry Stoves—These sturdy lit- (1) Small Foot Stoves—These include tle cast-iron pots on legs have a big top plate. hot-water pottery footrests, metal stoves in The firm of Gray & Dudley of Nashville still wooden frames with a tray for coals which advertises, along with gas and electric models, were used in the 1830's, soapstones, up- a "Rex Laundry Stove" which is constructed holstered buggy footrests with trays, and so to hold one wash boiler and eight sadirons. on; also a whale-oil burner which gave both The sadirons are held so that the entire face heat and light. fits flat against the bowl. (2) Franklin Stoves—The Franklin (6) Depot Stoves—These homely but stove, invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1745, useful coal stoves are called the "Cannon was the first metal stove manufactured in this Heater" in catalogs. Such a stove is a cast- country. It is basically a fireplace moved out iron drum with a door set upon a square into a room, connected to a chimney by ash grate and has a cast-iron leg base. They a stovepipe. still are bought, according to Herbert Lendved (3) The Shaker Stove—This simple of the Pritzlaff Hardware Company of Mil- affair was a sheet-iron or cast-iron rectan- waukee. A depot stove stood in front of the

233 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 original J. Pritzlaff Hardware Store 100 years ago. The first furnace was basically a depot stove covered with a jacket and supplied with pipes for circulation.

(7) Base Burner—This stove with its nickel-plated legs, handles and top trim, its tiers of mica windows gleaming brightly on all four sides, its tea kettle attachment on the rear, and its fancy finial on top was the glamorous member of the stove family. Any- one who did his courting beside it will never forget its sympathetic glow. But production ended thirty years ago, even in the South where cast-iron stoves are still manufactured.

(8) Parlor Stoves—These masterpieces of iron casting were designed to make the stoves fit in with the Victorian parlor furniture. They were characterized by orna- mental flues, humidifier urns, repousse work. iron filigree decoration, and fancy legs and Franklin Stove Used by Grant Fitch of Milwaukee grates. Basically, the parlor stoves were vari- When a Student at Yale. 1878-81 ations of the Franklin stove.

Two interesting stoves now in Milwaukee tween North Fourth and North Fifth streets. are pictured here. The Fitch Franklin stove It has medallions of female figures with lyres was used by the late Grant Fitch of Milwau- and other decorations showing a high degree kee while he was a student at Yale. He of casting art. This stove was given by Miss purchased the stove in Hartford in 1878 for Anna Needham. It is marked thus: Juvett his room in the Old South Middle Building, & Root Coral 2. which is still on the Yale campus. Mr. Fitch The other is a parlor stove with ornamental graduated in 1881 and brought the stove back twin flues, urn, and allover decoration. The to Milwaukee. The photograph was taken in model, patented September, 1845, was made the attic of the Fitch residence at 1321 North by Ransome & Company, New York, and Prospect Avenue. was fueled with wood. The other Milwaukee example shown is a The Kindergarten Room of the Octagon combination heater and bake-oven stove and House at Watertown has a stove which adds was made in Milwaukee during the late seven- appreciably to its interest. This stove formerly ties by Dutcher, Vose and Adams, a firm stood in the home of John Cole, who lived located in the Bay View district. Its urn is not a humidifier. The picture of this stove on North Fourth Street in a house built in was taken in the Milwaukee County Historical the late 1850's and still one of the interesting Museum, which received the stove from the landmarks of Watertown. It is called a square City of Milwaukee. fireplace stove by the custodian, Miss Gladys The County Museum has two other fine Mollart; in other words, a Franklin stove. specimens of parlor stoves: Another remarkable specimen in Water- One is a sheet-metal stove used seventy-five town is a two-flue, open-front (Franklin vari- years ago in the William A. Koch residence ation) stove now in the bedroom at the on the south side of West State Street be- Octagon House. It was bought by the father

234 WHYTE: EARLY AMERICAN STOVES II

A Combination Heater and Bake-Oven Stove Richards' Stove in the Octagon Made at Milwaukee during the Late Seventies House, Watertown of Mrs. John Richards, who sent it from Stoves will be further discussed and pic- Sheffield, Massachusetts, soon after the Rich- tured in The Collector; the cooperation of ards family moved into the Octagon House our readers in providing additional examples in 1852 or 1853. The company which manu- is heartily solicited, ft would be interesting factured the stove has been out of existence to have a picture and description of an old for about 110 years. stove in its original setting.

LOST and FOUND

The Collector would like very much to have Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur by interesting and, if possible, artistic photo- admiring Filipinos at the time when he re- graphs of historical furniture. A piece of tired as their governor. The desk was at the furniture would be qualified if it had been MacArthur home on 1101 North Marshall owned by an historically significant person Street in Milwaukee and was undoubtedly or was on the scene at the time of an im- portant event in the State's history. used by General Douglas MacArthur. A pic- Such a piece is the MacArthur desk now ture of the desk appears in the Historical exhibited in the lobby of the Milwaukee Messenger No. 5, Series 6, of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. It was presented to County Historical Society.

235 it should be taught. More power to you. You are doing a fine job and I have no suggestions on how you could do better. Hope to see you at Green Lake in June. Janesville O. A. OESTREICH

1 enjoyed your State Fair exhibit, and strongly recommend it be continued and enlarged. Racine JOHN D. COSTELLO

During the recent years past, I have watched the Society's effort increase in popu- larity and general interest without losing any A Scholar Sums Us Up of its scholarship or quality! Good! The older functions: Ripon LYLE CORS (1) to preserve for future generations. (2) to publish for those already educated Carry on—enlarge your program. Keep up to reading history. pushing for enlarged building, fnterest all The newer functions: sections of the state of the real value your (1) to interest the uninterested. organization can be to them. Have Miss Drews (2) to make history attractive to the continue the splendid Sunday articles. I con- youngsters in school. gratulate the direction of Dr. Lord in build- I think you are doing a "grand job" in ing a larger and the best State Historical every way. I am glad to help a little now Society, f think you have an excellent staff and then. of co-workers, and continued success to all of you. Lawrence College WM. F. RANTEY Madison EMIL J. FRAUTSCHI Comments by Members Small abandoned cemeteries on private Lack of time prevents me from participat- property are a great worry to many. The ing in your meetings. This is probably true of stones are often down and overgrown with others who are business men and women. moss and grass. There were no churches nor Our hours of work coincide with those of the cemetery associations; when the farm had to museum and library. Distance is also a be sold the cemetery was included. Many of factor. I hope to find time in the not too our pioneers were buried in such cemeteries. distant future to visit the museum again and As no official birth and death records were see more of what you have. I am interested kept all trace of some early settlers may in history generally and coinage particularly. be lost. Wisconsin has some interesting history of Most of our county histories are out of paper currency and tokens issued during the print. Could we begin to collect material Jackson period of hard times. There is also for new ones? an interesting series of copper tokens issued Big Rend [ANONYMOUS] privately during the Civil War. You are doing a splendid job, and f am pleased to I am just a country lawyer who enjoys be associated with so progressive an organi- browsing among things historical, particularly zation. good historical novels and biography. Your Racine RICHARD S. YEO effort to get the study of history into our schools has my hearty approval. I have Replying to your various questionnaires shouted loud and long about the failure of will say 1 am a dairy farmer and this is the our schools to teach our history as f think most intensive kind of farming of all. Relia-

236 SINCERELY YOURS ble help is extremely scarce so have to stay pated so the fault is only with misjudgment on the job 12 hrs. per day, so it becomes on my part. impossible to attend the Historical Society I felt it was an organization more to inform doings. Besides being a bachelor, if I have its members of historical facts on Wisconsin a bit of leisure from the regular work then I than one of a social nature which it appears to have to do housework, so with no relief for be. I am merely a farmer in central Wisconsin outside or inside help I must remain barred with an interest in history so you can see from many interesting meetings. However, why it doesn't get me very enthused when I can keep up in all reading matter and as a I hear that so and so attended such and such true nature lover I am most keenly interested in Madison, Fort Atkinson, etc. in all the early history narratives, the magnif- The best way I can describe it is that "I icent beauty of it all which is now swiftly expected more meat and not so much pota- disappearing, the woods, the wild flowers, the toes." birds and animals and now even the streams Friendship WM. R. JENSEN are led over artificial ways and their waters filled with pollution that kills most fish. When- The W. H. S. is doing a fine job in collect- ever men move in, the destruction of nature ing, preserving, and encouraging the use of begins and continues in proportion to in- historical sources; in writing, editing, and creasing population. On my farm I have publishing some of the best of local history planted thousands of pines and let young that is today being done in the United States. timber grow after the destruction of our vast Few societies return me so much. Every time wood lots. You are doing valiant work. I pick up the Magazine or visit the Society Cambridge HERMAN OLSON I am amazed at the expansion into thoroughly worthwhile projects that it is carrying out. I am a young man with a general interest Ithaca, New York P. W. GATES in history and I am a new resident of Wis- consin. By belonging to this society I hope to Keep up as you are. You are fine and fill out my sketchy knowledge of Wisconsin doing a splendid job—an outstanding job. history. In this light, the Wisconsin Maga- With people like Clark Everest, Fred Heine- zine of History is good reading for me. I mann, Mrs. Kohler, Judge Rosenberry and hope to gradually assimilate Wisconsin his- all their fine co-workers in the Society, and tory until I know Wisconsin as well as I particularly with your exceptionally able know my native state. I think many new staff, you really have made an Historical residents of the state could profitably use Society live. your magazine to supplement their reading Chicago, Illinois S. KNOX KREUTZER on basic Wisconsin history. Perhaps, if your membership grows to include many new I am very well pleased with what I know residents, an occasional article could be writ- of it, and feel that the Society is doing a ten with the thought in mind that all Wiscon- grand job. There certainly is nothing like it sin history is new to some of the readers. in these parts. I get a sense of real vitality in Menasha ' J. H. ALEXANDER its program, at the same time that it is main- taining all the scholarly services for which What can I as a rank-and-file person par- it has always been famous. This may not be ticipate in? How can the man in the street very helpful, but I feel confidence in the take part? That is a problem if it interests present staff's having a lot of ideas that are you. better than any I could send in. Milwaukee CLARENCE YTTRI W. THEODORE PAULLIN New Britain, Connecticut I wish to drop my membership. It isn't that you don't have a worthy organization or The Winter Issue of American Heritage have mistreated my interests in any way. which describes the work of the State Histori- The organization was not what I had antici- cal Society arrived and I spent a good part

237 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 of last evening browsing through it. I con- Badger History gratulate you on the fine work the State During our Easter vacation I received a Historical Society is doing. phone call from the Reporter, our daily I am sure other members of our company paper. They asked me to come to their office [Blatz Brewing] will share my enthusiasm to have my picture taken. I thought that this about your work and I am circulating the must be a mistake. When I asked why 1 pamphlet among them. should come, they said for writing a story Milwaukee F. C. VERBEST for the Badger History. Was I surprised! Last Thursday night my picture and article Your new magazine is splendid as to about the Light-house were in the Reporter. format, content, paper and typography. My Almost everyone we know called up to con- congratulations on this very fine achievement! gratulate me on my story. . . . Rothschild ALLEN ABRAMS Two Rivers MARY LOU KARBOWSKI

James Duane Doty (Continued from page 198) sight could have provided." The partners the two wildcat banks turned up stories of complied but the terms of the rescue exacted absconding cashiers, disappearing records, a sacrifice that ended for all time Doty's worthless notes, and empty vaults, but no beautiful vision of wealth and power as a proof that Doty was responsible for these Wisconsin baronial landowner. conditions. How a court would have viewed Happily for the hard-pressed Doty, at the the tangled series of negotiations regarding lowest point of his economic distress a turn the title to Madison is something that probably in Fortune's wheel brought him to the politi- neither set of claimants cared to face. Doty's cal top. The election of Harrison to the title was certainly shaky, but far more justi- presidency in 1840 foreshadowed the replace- fication can be found for his actions than ment of Dodge as governor of Wisconsin by for his opponents. Regarding the use of some worthy Whig supporter, and, upon the capitol building funds, little doubt remained recommendation of Webster, Clay, and Na- in anyone's mind as to what had occurred. thaniel Tallmadge of New York State, Doty Faced with the necessity of erecting a state- was appointed. In Wisconsin an uproar house and providing living accommodations greeted the news of the change and the cam- for workmen and legislators in an uninhabited paign of hate and villification that had begun site, Doty unquestionably did not clearly in 1838 intensified, never letting up during distinguish between building the capitol and Doty's entire administration. As a conse- building the village of Madison. If the panic quence, Doty was on the defensive throughout and the investigations had not halted settle- his three years in office. This situation ac- ment, the returns would have been no doubt counts in large part for many of the so-called prompt and ample enough to restore the "partisan" aspects of his administration. His funds. Presumably on that expectation he appointees were selected on the basis of gambled and lost. But not this nor anything loyalty and usefulness to him, rather than on else incriminating did he ever admit to the experience or proven worth; his treatment inquisitors. of the recalcitrant Legislature was high- At last the never-ending probing forced handed and unyielding, rather than concilia- Doty to the wall. The Legislature scheduled tory; and his proposals designed for par- a special session for August, 1840, a time ticular ends, rather than the general welfare. when Congress was not in session, and or- Despite the strong forces arrayed against dered committees to present reports of their him, the adroit governor managed for a findings. In this dilemma Doty appealed to the while to maintain the ascendancy. This fact Astor associates to relieve him "from a pe- was observed by a visitor from Chicago in cuniary difficulty which was most unexpected. the spring of 1843: "There is a very inter- . . . Indeed everything I have in the world is esting contest going on just now between the at your disposal," he added, "if you can save Gov. James D. Doty, and the Legislature. me from this calamity against which no fore- The Legislature & the people all seem to be

238 against Doty, but Doty seems to be ahead. ... I cannot learn enough to decide which is right, though I can clearly see that the Gov. is ahead. All of the papers that I read are against the Governor & they abuse him roundly, & I hear that the people are against him too, but I don't know how that is. There is no party politics in the matter that I can learn, but it is Doty and anti Doty, & Doty is ahead." Possibly Doty could have beaten down the "The Loggery," Neenah, Taken in 1900 opposition had it not been operating with equal vigor in the national capital. Ex-Gover- part of the territory, and at the polls the nor Henry Dodge had succeeded Doty as voters rejected the constitution. delegate to Congress and was carrying out Two years later when Wisconsin had be- his threat to make Doty "a heavy weight for come a state, Doty was elected to Congress Tyler to carry before I am done with him." from the northeastern district for two suc- The influences that had placed Doty in office cessive terms (1849-53). At that time the country was deep in the discussion of a sub- were melting away. Webster resigned from ject of never-ending interest to Doty. The the Cabinet; Clay from the Senate. President westward expansion of the United States had Tyler, who had signed Doty's appointment, made a railroad to the Pacific coast impera- should have been sympathetic with the trials tive. So stupendous an undertaking could of the Wisconsin executive for he was himself only be accomplished through federal aid in the target of a similar heavy bombardment. the form of public land grants. To Doty the But Tyler was returning to his original Demo- situation looked much like the old familiar cratic faith and saw no reason for continuing internal improvement game blown up to huge to shoulder the burden of Doty. In 1844 he proportions, and soon he was deep in expan- replaced Doty with Senator Tallmadge, and sion schemes reminiscent of his activities peace settled over disturbed Wisconsin Terri- fifteen years before. From among the Pacific tory. railroad plans under consideration, he favored one that promised the maximum benefit to Once again Doty turned from omceholding Wisconsin. The only feasible route, he de- to the land. With his son Charles he opened clared, was from the head of Lake Superior up and developed an island site at the outlet to Puget Sound. When Colonel Isaac I. of Lake Winnebago where the prosperous Stevens was selected in 1853 to survey this manufacturing cities of Neenah and Menasha northernmost of five chosen routes, Doty was now stand. The Grand Loggery that he built overjoyed. His son James accompanied the there was the home of the Dotys for nearly Stevens party and rendered notable service fifteen years. Winnebago County sent him to the expedition before his death in Wash- in 1846 to represent it at the first Constitu- ington Territory in 1857. The surveys were tional Convention. There the repudiated completed, but sectional disputes delayed officeholder demonstrated his ability to stage selection of any route until the Civil War a comeback. Gathering together disgruntled broke out, and then the war prevented Democrats, lonely Whigs, aspiring Free- construction. Soilers, and other political mavericks, the On slavery, the other issue of paramount "smiling gentleman from Winnebago" built importance in those years, it is no surprise up an opposition that forced the adoption of to find this lineal descendant of a Mayflower a number of liberal clauses in the proposed passenger siding with other New Fnglanders. constitution. But again disappointment Still, when a new political party based on awaited him. Although chairman of the opposition to the extension of slavery took Committee on Boundaries, he was forced to form, he stayed aloof for a while, hoping out submit to the excision of the northwestern of the rapidly shifting alliances of the era to

239 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 win election to the United States Senate. His It is this Mephistophelian touch that sticks hopes were blasted and before the end of the in people's minds, obscuring Doty's finer decade he joined the Republicans. In 1861 qualities. Likewise, the record of the less Lincoln appointed him Superintendent of admirable aspects of his career has been well Indian Affairs in Utah Territory and, in preserved, but his well-laid schemes for con- 1863, elevated him to the office of governor. structive action have been all but forgotten. To those who remembered Doty's record Unfortunately for Doty, his best efforts never as territorial governor in Wisconsin, the ap- materialized, or came to fruition too late to pointment must have occasioned surprise and redound to his credit. Wisconsin was delayed misgivings. Utah, one of the hot spots of the in reaching territoryhood and statehood far nation, had problems enough, it would seem, beyond the normal time partly because Doty without taking on an official with a reputa- constantly overplayed his hand. His program tion for setting men together by the ears. of internal improvements could not have The Latter Day Saints were a self-sufficient reached Congress at a more inopportune people who regarded the presence of all fed- time. His humane and sensible proposals eral representatives as superfluous. But the regarding Indian policies fell on deaf ears. man who as governor of Wisconsin had The growth of Madison was retarded for clashed with the Legislature, vetoed bills, and years by legal entanglements and threats to kept the community in a continuous uproar, remove the capital. Three times his hopes did none of these things on the new frontier. for political success were overturned by the In Utah he cooperated with the army, paci- sudden death of a President. He did not fied Indian tribes, won the respect of the live to see the transcontinental railroad fin- Mormon people, and exerted himself to effect ished. It was not until about the time of his harmony. departure from the State that the long-antici- Had Lincoln lived, had Doty lived, Utah pated agricultural and industrial expansion might not have had to wait thirty years for started the Fox River Valley on its path to statehood. It is even possible that Doty prosperity. might at last have achieved his dearest ambi- Immensely valuable iron, copper, and lead tion, a seat in the United States Senate. But deposits, millions of acres of pine forests, his dreams of what might be done in the great stretches of fertile farm lands, exten- postwar era were never to be realized. The sive lake frontages were Wisconsin's rightful close of the conflict was quickly followed by heritage. That the State's area was reduced the assassination of the President, and on more than one-half, that she surrendered vast June 13, 1865, in the midst of Utah's cele- portions of this potential wealth to her three bration over renewal of plans to unite East neighbors, was assuredly no fault of Doty's. and West by rail, a heart attack proved fatal Bitterly he wrote Lyman C. Draper, "The to the governor. true boundaries of Wiskonsan embraced one Remembering Doty's magnetic personality, hundred and seventeen thousand square his natural graces and gifts, his astonishing miles, which would have made her the 'Em- range of interests, his remarkable initiative pire State' of the Northwest." and energy, some of his former political If it is agitation that teaches, as some enemies in Wisconsin were disposed to political theorists maintain, then the people shower him with fulsome praises after death. of territorial Wisconsin were indeed well One among them, more realistic, conceded educated. In the ferment of ideas engen- these good points but carried his appraisal dered by the Doty controversies, no one farther: "He was not always the affable, mild- could be oblivious to matters of public con- mannered, non-combative gentleman that cern or indifferent as to their outcome. The some contend, but an aggressive, self- stresses and strains of those stirring times willed, opinionated person, full of intrigue, without doubt made the residents of Wis- dishonesty and corruption, who was once consin an acutely politically conscious peo- described ... as 'a man who had a winning ple, a trait that persists, it is said, down to way to make people hate him'." the present day.

240 KIECKHEFER: MILWAUKEE-DOWNER COLLEGE

Wisconsin Represented Wisconsin was well represented on the Presiding at the annual dinner of the program of the Mississippi Valley His- Association was the distinguished histo- torical Association meeting which con- rian and the organization's president vened at Cincinnati, Ohio, in late April. for the current year, Dr. Merle Curti. Participating was Professor Merrill The discussion which closed the meeting Jensen of the University of Wisconsin was given over to the general theme, History Department, who spoke on his "Old and New Approaches to the Teach- teaching experiences during 1949-50 at ing of History," and was in charge of the University of Oxford. This section- Walker D. Wyman, a member of the al meeting was devoted to the theme faculty of State Teachers College, River "Teaching American History Abroad." Falls.

Milwaukee-Downer (Continued from page 214) Farrar's departure, from its membership came the nucleus for the Milwaukee College Endow- ment Association, an organization of women founded in 1890 and flourishing to this day, its purpose unchanged except that Milwau- kee-Downer has superseded Milwaukee Col- lege as beneficiary of its gifts. The college buildings had been greatly expanded under Professor Farrar, and the 1890's saw the foundations laid for such substantial endowments as Catharine Beecher had never envisioned. This was ironical, for at this period the enrollment of college grade students had declined almost to the vanishing point and an overlarge preparatory depart- ment dominated the school. The history of Milwaukee College from the departure of Charles Farrar until the union of the colleges is obscure. Records are scant. Newspapers tend to record only "brilliant social events" at the school. Nevertheless, one gathers that the administrations of Professor Charles College Basketball Team of 1902 at Milwaukee-Downer Kingsley, 1889-1893, and of Mrs. Louise Upton, 1893-1895, were undistinguished and trustees realized that it was too small to do that drastic changes were needed in policy effective work, and it was already seeking a or the college department must close its doors. more favorable site when the suggestion of It was at this juncture that some of the combining forces with Milwaukee College Milwaukee trustees heard of an excellent piece was received. of work that was being done at Downer Downer had begun life in 1855 as Wis- College in Fox Lake by its new president, consin Female College, a Baptist foundation Ellen Sabin, and the first inquiries were made for young women, as Wayland University which ultimately resulted in the combining at nearby Beaver Dam was to be for men. of the schools. Downer College, although it The undertaking at Beaver Dam, however, had recently been rescued from its perennial ran into difficulties and required all available penniless existence by the generous bequest funds, so that the Baptist Education Society of Judge Jason Downer, had always been withdrew from Fox Lake soon after the hampered by its inaccessible location. Its establishment of the school, and the direction

241 two periods in which the school was run as a coeducational venture, from 1860 to 1863 and again from 1875 to 1884. The men's department was known as the Fox Lake Academy and, although for a time it was under the direction of men, it was in the end under the same feminine hand as the women's department. Male students formed a substantial portion of the student body, and Wisconsin Female College has the distinction of having two alumni listed among its alum- nae, Messrs. Grant Thomas, class of '81 and John Tarrant, class of '84. The Downer be- quest, which was restricted to the education of women, eliminated the coeducational fea- Ellen C. Sabin ture, which brings to mind an amusing but perhaps apocryphal story of the late Ellen then passed into Presbyterian and Congre- C. Sabin. In the early days on the new Mil- gational hands. There was always a strong waukee-Downer campus Hamlin Chapman, religious atmosphere at Fox Lake; clergymen treasurer of the college and administrator of were often the administrators, and the Board the Downer bequest, was aghast to see two of Trustees usually included a number of gentlemen with easels and brushes on their ministers. Many of the early students were way to the art classroom. He immediately daughters of the clergy and it is not surpris- rushed to the president's office to remind her ing that so many of them in turn married that the instruction of male students was pre- ministers or missionaries, or became mission- cluded under the terms of the Downer will, aries themselves in Japan, China, Hawaii, whereupon Miss Sabin dismissed his objec- and other far-off corners of the earth. tions with the terse reply, "I looked them There is much room for research on the over and they were both sissies!" early administrations of Wisconsin Female After the many changes of administration College. Early records are meager indeed. of the first forty years, both in Milwaukee Even the minutes of trustees' meetings are and in Fox Lake, it is indeed noteworthy often but a penciled paragraph or two in a that the last sixty years of the century have school copybook. Administrators changed been spent under the direction of but two constantly, and the early ones are little more strong, outstanding personalities—Ellen C. than names to us today—H. G. Parker, Joel Sabin who presided for thirty years, from W. Fish, the Misses Skinner, Miss Reed— 1891 to 1921, and Lucia Russell Briggs, and there are no pictures nor mementoes of whose resignation, also after thirty years of their regimes. In fact we know little of the service, became effective at the Centennial life of the school until the celebrated "Rock- Commencement of 1951. ford faculty" was brought in under Caroline The events of these two regimes are so fresh Bodge, in 1863. Caroline Bodge was to Wis- in the minds of Wisconsin residents that they consin Female College what Mary Mortimer need no recounting at this time. Lest future was to Milwaukee, and her successor, Mary historians, perhaps celebrating a Bicentenary, Crowell, followed closely in her footsteps, should have the same difficulties as those of patterning the school after that of their today, Milwaukee-Downer is making sure that teacher in the East, the famous Mary Lyon. the records of this more recent past will be It is interesting to note that while both well preserved in the archives of the college. colleges had the word "Female" as part of At all times the college welcomes any assis- the original name, both admitted male stu- tance which history-lovers and antiquarians dents from time to time. In Milwaukee, little of Wisconsin can give in rediscovering its boys were admitted to the primary depart- fascinating past, and hopes that from time to ment only. In Fox Lake, however, there were time it will have new chapters to reveal.

242 Folk Museums The eminent English journal of rural a craftsman work in the room and then living, The Countryman, in its Spring leave it, as though he had just gone 1951 issue offers some suggestive argu- out for a break. . . . ments for adequate museums. Since "The Castle Museum at York is unique most of our readers will not have a in the British Isles as embodying the chance to see this brilliant exposition, urban equivalent of a folk park—the we offer these excerpts. We are im- re-creation of a typical street in a pressed that such an appeal is made to county or market town with shopfronts people we assume to be history-con- dating from the mid-eighteenth to the scious. It should interest those of our mid-nineteenth centuries. There are also members who are supporting our farm rooms furnished in the domestic styles museum project at Nelson Dewey State of several periods, and trade and house- Park. hold exhibits, including an almost com- "Far too many people still imagine a plete collection of the plates formerly museum to be a place where dusty by- affixed to houses by fire insurance com- gones and wry-necked stuffed birds panies, as a reminder of the days when jostle with chips of flint and moth-eaten, a fire engine might arrive at the scene snarling polecats. This is, of course, the of a fire and refuse to put it out because veriest caricature of an up-to-date mu- the house was insured with a rival seum. . . . England is the largest coun- company. . . . try in Europe to be without [a country "The educational value of properly life] museum. . . . designed and run museums of rural "Indeed, Wales and the Isle of Man life can hardly be overstressed. No already have their folk museums. St. child, and only the most purblind of Fagan's Castle ... is the home of the adults, could walk down "The Street" Welsh National Folk Museum. ... It is at York, or through the rooms of the surrounded by gardens and partly typical Welsh country house at St. wooded grounds, which are to be de- Fagan's, without getting a background veloped as a folk park on the Scandi- to history more vivid than could be navian model, with farms and cottages conveyed by any reading of textbooks to illustrate the whole range of Welsh or listening to lectures. . . . country life. A Flintshire barn is al- "Year by year evidence of the nation's ready being erected, and by the summer past disappears through decay or on there will be a woollen-mill. A turner the scrap-heap. Much of value was and basket-maker work at their trades lost during the last war, and the call on the estate, and other craftsmen are for scrap-iron may soon be repeated. to be installed there in their own work- . . . But no amount of isolated effort shops. It is admirable to show tools can make up for the shameful manner in their appropriate settings, but even in which, as a nation, we ignore the better in actual use. Elsewhere a simi- fast disappearing evidence of progress lar effect has been achieved by having to our present way of life." —Permission to print this excerpt was given by The Countryman, Burford, Oxford, England.

243 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

Readers' Choice (Continued jrom page 229) Miller's time and Oliver Wendell Holmes, opponent was not a barrier to the cultivation who served with Fuller, White, Taft, and of his friendship. In truth it was, perhaps, Hughes, said Fuller was the best presiding something of an incentive to it. When Fuller officer Holmes had ever known. came to Chicago, he brought a letter of recom- These words uttered by men who did not mendation from a member of the Supreme use words lightly are words of high praise. Court of Maine who as stepfather of the girl They could be true only because Melville in the broken engagement had been opposed Weston Fuller had high qualities. These in- to the proposed marriage. Upon the death cluded that rare capacity for friendship which of the bishop in the church case pending the made his colleagues seek to earn and to keep litigation Fuller was one of his pallbearers. his respect and good will, a disposition which When Cyrus McCormick in 1872 made it a could endure opposition without personal ill- condition of a gift to the Greeley campaign will, a serene confidence in his own judg- that Fuller be excluded from the state cam- ment linked with sufficient humility to enable paign committee, Fuller showed some hurt him to concede that those who differed with but at once started to cultivate McCormick him might be right, and a willingness to ac- with the result that the two men became cept the responsibility that was his without good friends. yearning for power that belonged to others. Though he had failed of selection as a These qualities combined with others to make delegate to the National Democratic Conven- a man who when placed in a high position tion of 1884 which nominated Grover Cleve- served his country well. He lived a life that land for the first time, he promptly, upon fully merited the splendid description of it the election of Cleveland, began to cultivate Mr. King has written. him and, likewise, his private secretary, OLIVER S. RUNDELL Daniel Lamont. This was not, of course, the University of Wisconsin sole factor leading to his appointment as Chief Justice upon the death of Chief Justice Diplomacy and Indian Gifts: Anglo-French Waite in 1888 but it most certainly helped Rivalry Along the Ohio and Northwest in securing that result. His genuinely re- Frontiers, 1748-1763. By WILBUR R. spectable qualifications, plus the possession JACOBS. (Stanford University Press, of many friends, combined to produce the Stanford, 1950. Pp. 208. $5.00.) confirmation by the United States Senate of Essentially this study is concerned with the his appointment. economic aspects of Indian diplomacy during That he proved to be a great Chief Justice the period from 1748 to 1763 with brief ex- is not claimed by his biographer. He wrote cursions into subsequent years. The focus of few, if any, great opinions. Those he wrote interest, in reference to the Indian groups were often loosely constructed and his judi- involved, shifts from the Iroquois confedera- cial style was uninspired. His most famous tion, to the Cherokee and Catawba of the opinion, the one in which he spoke for the South, and westward to the Miami and other majority of the court in holding the Income groups in the Ohio region, depending upon Tax Law of 1894 unconstitutional, was se- the fluctuation of the nature of the conflict be- verely criticised and led to a constitutional tween British and French or Indians and amendment. But he proved strong enough Whites. Attention is directed to the diverse to command his court and efficient in the types of material given to the Indians by administration of its business. He succeeded French and English ranging from elaborately in maintaining a high degree of personal trimmed hats and gaudy waistcoats to scalp- friendliness among the members of a group ing knives and muskets; from pots, needles, containing some angular dispositions. He thread, and scissors to jews' harps, looking wrote far more than his share of the opin- glasses and medals. A careful analysis is ions of the court and, with the aid of the made of the cost of these varied materials, Court of Appeals, the establishment of which indicating that warfare and its prevention he was instrumental in securing, he reduced was expensive in that period too. In general to reasonable proportions the period required the French system of distribution of presents to determine cases presented to the Supreme seems to have been far more efficient than Court. Samuel Freeman Miller, who sat with the British, both through their use of a more Taney, Chase, Waite, and Fuller, said that lavish hand when such distribution was re- Fuller was "the best presiding judge" in quired and through their utilization of a more

244 READERS CHOICE

centralized system which avoided costly du- well be a false analogy. Indeed, it is inter- plication of presents and saw them reach the esting to note that the closing pages of most strategic places. However, despite their Jacobs' account (p. 178) indicate that In- inefficiency, ultimately the greater maritime dian assistance was finally gained by actual strength of the British allowed them to cut cash payments, rather than goods. Indirectly, off the flow of French presents to the New then, we have recorded in this account sug- World. gestions of a nearly complete transformation The great strength of this study is the care- of native cultures by means of European ful documentation of the manner in which the goods, culminating in a transition to a money Indians were assiduously courted as allies by economy. both the French and English during this pe- Despite such objections, a wealth of infor- riod of struggle for the mastery of eastern mation derived from manuscript sources is North America. After careful reading, the made available in the study. In addition to importance of the Indian in this conflict is the account of the historic events of the pe- to be clearly appreciated and Dr. Jacobs is riod, excellent insights are given to the activ- to be congratulated on his analysis of the ities and character of such men as Conrad mechanism by which this support was ob- Weiser, William Johnson, and others who tained. It is clearly shown how success or were the active agents dealing with the fron- failure of particular regional exploitation and tier tribes. The account is not easy reading, even of specific campaigns was dependent however. Originally it was prepared as a upon the liberality with which Indian assis- doctoral dissertation at the University of tance and cooperation was purchased. California at Los Angeles, and while perhaps It is perhaps unfortunate that throughout a ratio of 974 footnotes to 175 pages of text the study there is constant reference to "pres- may indicate the scholarly qualifications of ents" or "gifts," the contemporary euphem- the candidate, the elimination of many, or ism substituted for payments or subsidies. their incorporation in the text, would have An attempt is made in the opening chapter aided the flow of the narrative. to indicate that the giving and receiving of DAVID A. BAERREIS presents is "an old Indian custom." Objec- University of Wisconsin tion might be raised to the methodological approach utilized which, despite the giving of The Army Air Forces in World War II: The lip service to cultural differences among the Pacific—Gaudalcanal to Saipan (Au- various Indian tribes, documents the wide- gust, 1942 to July, 1944). Edited by spread prevalence of gift exchange by ab- W. F. CRAVEN and J. L. CATE. (Univer- stracting specific instances of this custom sity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1950 from the cultural context of the many diverse [Vol. IV], Pp. xxii, 825, illustrated. Indian groups in the eastern United States. $6.00.) The stress upon this specific feature and the Although this is numbered Volume IV, it implication that it is but a continuation of an is actually the third of seven books on the older aboriginal custom tends to weaken the history of the Army Air Forces. The first two economic aspects of diplomacy that emerge volumes were reviewed in the June issue of from the study. We might similarly argue the Wisconsin Magazine of History, and the that gift exchange is equally important in favorable comments made at that time as to Western European culture, citing the customs style, lucidity, and completeness apply equal- of Christmas, birthdays, and weddings as ex- ly to the present volume. amples, and then explain the form taken by economic aid to Jugoslavia on the basis of The record begins in the dark days of 1942, our custom of giving gifts. The important when Japan, checked only by the battle of lesson regarding the economic factors in di- the Coral Sea, was sweeping all before her in plomacy that might well emerge from this the South Pacific. The account ends with the specific historical study, if we compare the capture of the Marianas in preparation for role of subsidy and economic aid seen in the devastating B-29 raids that struck the Indian diplomacy during the French and death blow to the enemy. English struggle with the similar subsidies Six great air forces are the leading char- being given at the present time to those who acters in this stirring drama. The Fifth was will align themselves against Russian com- part of General MacArthur's Southwest Pacific munism, should not be vitiated by what might striking power. It suffered reverses at the hands of a relentless enemy, but eventually

245 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 helped turn the tide of battle along the New Iowa Agriculture: An Historical Survey. By Guinea coast. EARLE D. ROSS. (The Torch Press, Cedar The Thirteenth Air Force worked simul- Rapids, Iowa, 1951. Pp. 226. $4.50.) taneously with the Fifth through the bloody It is fortunate for the cause of agricultural days of Gaudalcanal on up through the Solo- history that Iowa, the nation's number-one mons to Bougainville. It helped neutralize producer of corn, oats, hay, popcorn, hogs, Rabaul, and opened up the southern ap- poultry, and finished cattle for market, has a proaches for the big push on the Japanese worthy chronicler of her amazing agricultural inner defense ring. development. Professor Ross, already widely The Seventh Air Force specialized on long known and highly respected for his many range strikes on island bastions. Cooperating articles and books on various phases of agri- with the Thirteenth, it softened up the Caro- culture and agrarian life, has presented in lines, while the Navy, under Admiral Nimitz, Iowa Agriculture the best interpretive survey took over the vital Marianas area. extant of the farmer's history in a single state. The Eleventh Air Force worked along the The volume, based on a variety of sources— books, bulletins, periodicals, statutes, govern- Aleutians from Adak to Kiska. The Tenth ment publications, yearbooks, farm journals, protected the life line to China from Assam newspapers, theses, agricultural society re- over "the Hump" to Kunming. The small, ports, and memoirs—carefully listed in selec- but gallant Fourteenth slowly whittled away tive and many times informative footnotes, at Japanese air power and shipping from reflects years of research and maturity of bases within China proper. scholarship. In addition to these fine features The record is written in blood and dis- the book is extremely readable. couraging setbacks, but when the book ends, Professor Ross has organized his work only the coup de grace is left to be admin- chronologically under twelve main headings. istered to a beaten foe. In Chapter 1 he discusses briefly Iowa's nat- The air forces fought in widely scattered ural resources—resources, by the way, which areas under varying conditions. The reader go far toward explaining the state's agricul- is impressed by the differences in the indi- tural pre-eminence. Next he turns to the story vidual commands. The book is a story of of the beginnings of the white man's settle- courage and resourcefulness in the face of ment in the Hawkeye State, from 1833 to 1850. great odds. Names already almost forgotten In Chapter 3, "The Awakening Fifties," he spring into sharp focus again as the account describes the phenomenal influx of settlers unfolds—names that should remain forever which occurred in the middle of the decade as part of our historical heritage—Rabaul, and the effect it had on the life of the state. Biak, Sansapor, Espiritu Santo, Hollandia, By 1860 maize was on its way to dominance Vunakanau, and Guadalcanal. But mostly, and "stabilizing and modernizing develop- this is the story of a cruel and endless attack ments" were started. Then came the Civil War, which Professor Ross concludes was on "one damned island after another." "more disturbing and unsettling to systems One wonders from this reading how we and methods of production and marketing did so well in the Pacific war. Not only was than it was effectively promotive." Disposal there confusion of command between Army, of the remaining public lands after the war Navy, and foreign allies, but there was divi- and the occupation of the last frontier area sion of opinion as to Pacific strategy. Com- in the northwestern counties form the themes mitted to "do-or-die" campaigns in Africa of Chapter 5. Chapter 6 is concerned with and Europe, General H. H. Arnold simply the transition to a "Corn Belt Economy." could not spare the equipment needed merely Final attention to the nineteenth century is to hold the enemy from further expansion given in an excellent account of agrarian along the island periphery of Asia. Without unrest. whitewashing mistakes or minimizing blun- The remaining five chapters, "The New ders, the editors have nevertheless set down Agriculture," "Food Wins the War," "Defla- for future generations a record of which tion and Disparity," "Relief and Regulation," Americans may well be proud. and "The Corn Belt Comes of Age," trace the progress of Iowa agriculture down to the be- HENRY LADD SMITH ginning of World War II. Each is exceed- University of Wisconsin ingly well done. At the end of the volume

246 READERS CHOICE are seventeen maps showing land in farms, for, and the rise of, the mail order business. size of farms, and production figures by Incidentally, Emmet and Jeuck say that counties during the middle 1940's. There is Montgomery Ward was not only first to enter also an index. the field but that it was a big company when If this reviewer could alter Professor Ross's Sears started. In fact it was twenty-five years book in any way, he would add a chapter or before Sears out-stripped them in annual two on the farmer's home and social life. dollar volume of sales. Such an addition would round out the narra- As Sears, Roebuck grew in size, it grew in tive and increase its interest; nevertheless, confusion, lacking organization and efficiency the book as it stands is a valuable contribu- in management. Their financial responsibility tion to history. The thought of having a was in excess of their capital investment and similar volume for each state should surely Roebuck was a worrier. By 1894 their net send any agricultural historian into an enrap- worth was about $80,000. Roebuck sold his tured and ecstatic frame of mind. share and name for $25,000 and got out. Sears needed help and capital. At this time Carleton College MERRILL E. JARCHOW Julius Rosenwald (who had been selling suits to Sears) and his brother-in-law, Aaron E. Catalogues and Counters: A History of Sears, Nusbaum, approached Sears. They were im- Roebuck & Company. By BORIS EMMET pressed by his ability and the nature of the and JOHN E. JEUCK. (University of Chi- business, and the three men decided to form cago Press, Chicago, 1950. Illustrations, a new company. notes, bibliography, and index. Pp. 788. There is not space enough here to even $7.50.) outline the changes in management or to This history has just about anything you more than mention a few names of persons want—it's like looking into a Sears catalogue who have been identified with the company or entering one of their big stores as a cus- in the top managerial capacity. There were tomer. A lot of people in this country know clashes of personality at times. First be- Sears, Roebuck & Company through their tween Nusbaum and Sears, the former leaving catalogue as customers. Yet it may have re- the business. Later Sears and Rosenwald mained a mysterious entity to millions. Now clashed, but Loeb (now secretary of the com- with the publication of this history it becomes pany) as peacemaker healed this. Sears a comprehensible institution, something real. retired from active management in 1908, but Richard Sears was a railroad station agent stayed on as a director until a year before at Redwood, Minnesota, but discovered his his death in 1914. Rosenwald was president ability as a salesman through selling watches from 1908 to 1924, and chairman from 1924 for an Eastern manufacturer to his fellow until 1932. agents up and down the line. In 1886 he The story is developed chronologically, and organized the Sears Watch Company and the authors have successfully tied in the com- moved to Chicago. His business grew, he pany's growth and development with the needed a watch repairman. His advertisement economic history of the United States. They attracted a man named Alvah C. Roebuck point out the significance of the coming of from Hammond, Indiana. Roebuck got the parcel post in 1912 and of rural free delivery job; later as partners, through long hours seventeen years earlier. Prior to this the and hard work, they built a mail order busi- company shipped goods by express or freight. ness selling sewing machines, bicycles, farm Thus through postal legislation the catalogue tools, men's suits, most anything. salesmen were permitted to overcome a sub- Sears recognized the dependence of the stantial barrier to further growth just as farmer upon the country store. He knew that "rural free delivery" permitted them to cap- the farmer paid high interest on money bor- ture much of the great Midwest farm market rowed, and high prices on goods advanced seventeen years earlier. Another big change to him while he waited for cash from his came in the mid-twenties when the company harvest. Skilled in writing appealing adver- with some misgivings accommodated itself to tisements, through his catalogues, he was able the unrelenting trend toward urbanization to breach the wall of suspicion between the and developed its system of retail stores. farmer and the so-called "city slicker" then Later they opened catalogue desks in the prevalent. Against the background of the stores and more recently added "telethrift" agrarian crusade, the authors have presented shopping, where the customer merely picks in proper historical setting the opportunity up his phone and places his order.

247 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

Some chapters are devoted to comparisons for Bernard De Voto's Across the Wide of the catalogues of one decade with those of Missouri, have hunted out every scrap of an earlier period. These indicate not only information regarding Ruxton extant, includ- changes of styles, methods of writing adver- ing fragmentary journals of his adventures tisements, compliance with government regula- in Canada, Spain, and Africa, all of which tions of the sale of certain goods but other are here printed for the first time. It was features which constitute part of the social not easy, for Ruxton, a former British army and economic history of the country. Other officer, died in St. Louis without heirs. By chapters deal with the internal working of the one of those fortunate accidents that are organization presenting statistics and data for the result of persistent search, they found his the student of advertising methods, economics portrait, family records, and the manuscripts of retailing, and of business management. reproduced here, in the hands of distant Chapter 10 is one of the most interesting, relatives in England. which deals with the ascendancy of Robert Strangely enough, these fragments are W. Wood to top management in the firm. generally as interesting and as well written as There are other personalities brought into Ruxton's two books—his Life in the Far West the story, such as Lessing Rosenwald, son of is also to be reprinted by the University of Julius; and Donald M. Nelson, who headed Oklahoma Press. Of especial value to us are their quality control laboratory in the early his accounts of hunting trips in Canada, twenties. while he was still in the British army, sta- The book appears to be carefully done, is tioned at Fort Maiden, Amherstburg. near well-documented and, based upon sources Detroit. Later as a civilian he made a hunt- available, is objective in interpretation. There ing trip to the same area, sought out his old is some repetition which may have resulted hunting companion, a Chippewa Indian named from the joint authorship; in one case the Peshwego, and crossed back with him to the same story is attributed to a clash first between Michigan side. Ruxton got along well with Sears and Nusbaum (page 51), and later Indians, and gives much information about between Sears and Rosenwald (page 125). Chippewa customs and characteristics in this Each of them is described as a person who period, 1843-44. Unlike most English visitors would say "I told you so," if a project failed. of his day, he could understand frontier Apparently the editing proved to be too big Americans without prejudice; even more un- a chore. usual for that time, he was interested in Akron, Ohio W. D. OVERMAN dialect and folkways. This account, more lengthy and detailed than most of the jour- Ruxton of the Rockies. Collected by Clyde nals found, is a valuable contribution to our and Mae Reed Porter, edited by Le Roy understanding of the Michigan-Wisconsin R. Hafen. (University of Oklahoma Press. frontier characteristics in the '40s. Norman, 1950. Pp. xxii, 325. $5.00.) So well did Ruxton write, that upon coming A long while ago I borrowed a copy of to the final chapter, which tells of his lonely George Frederick Ruxton's Adventures in death in frontier St. Louis in 1848. I felt as Mexico and the Rocky Mountains from a sad as if I had just read the obituary of a friend who had obtained it in its pristine good friend, and it seemed altogether fitting leather-bound condition for one dollar—would that this notable book should appear as a that such days were here again! I thought monument to him. For those who do not then, as I do now, that here was one of the know Ruxton, here is an opportunity to be- most enlightening books ever written about come acquainted that should not be missed. the early Far West. It is a narrative of the The Porters have provided a number of life of a mountain man written by an outsider Alfred J. Miller illustrations (the artist of the who was a part of that life, yet could view it De Voto book), and Dr. Hafen has done an as something strange and worthy of record. altogether admirable job of editing. The period was that of the Mexican War— Elmhurst, Illinois DON RLSSELL Ruxton actually crossed the ill-defined lines of battle of that conflict during his journey. The Augustana Lutheran Church in America: All that concerns the Rocky Mountains in Pioneer Period, 1846-1860. By OSCAR that book appears in this volume—only the W. OLSON. (Augustana Book Concern, Mexican travels have been curtailed. In addi- Rock Island, Illinois, 1950. Pp. xvi. 397. tion those indefatigable investigators, the $3.50.) Porters, who ran down much of the material There are in the United States today some

248 READERS CHOICE

twenty varieties of Lutherans, all of them leadership. Three years later T. N. Hassel- direct or indirect transplantations from the quist arrived to accept a call to the Galesburg, Old World. Of these the largest proportion Illinois, church; in 1853 Erland Carlsson are constituted of people of German and came to be the pastor of the first Swedish Scandinavian background. Of the Scandina- Lutheran Church in Chicago. Much of the vian bodies the Swedish Lutherans are only early history of Swedish Lutheranism in exceeded in numbers by the Norwegian. America centers around these three early The largest Lutheran church in America, leaders. All of these leaders were sympathetic however, is the United Lutheran made with pietism and sought and received financial up largely of the descendants of the colonial assistance from the great Congregational Germans. Of all Protestant bodies in the agency, the American Home Missionary So- United States, none have retained more te- ciety. Proselyting by the Methodists, Baptists, naciously their Old World patterns than have and the growing influence of Swedish the churches which came out of the great pietism alienated the early leaders and they nineteenth century German and Scandina- gradually swung back to an increasing stiff- vian immigration. Until recent years these backed confessional position. However, as bodies retained their European languages in George M. Stephenson points out in his their worship. As a consequence they made Religious Aspects of the Swedish Immigra- no appeal to non-Germans and Scandinavians tion, the Augustana Synod is not the daugh- and still constitute to a large degree churches ter of the Church of Sweden, though it apart. was formed by men educated, ordained, and The nineteenth century Swedish immigra- trained in the State church. Hasselquist, the tion to America began in the eighteen forties, most influential of the early Swedish Lutheran motivated largely by economic and political leaders in America, "placed the stamp of unrest, and directed to America by the abun- pietism and low church forms so securely on dance of cheap land, free government, low the Augustana Synod" that it has come to taxes, social equality, and demand for labor. occupy a unique place among American Lu- The religious situation in Sweden was also a therans. The author fails to give adequate contributing cause. The State church had attention to these influences or to the most become unpopular among the masses of the serious schism the Augustana Synod has suf- people, and there was widespread spiritual fered in the withdrawal of the Pietists to form unrest due to antiquated laws restricting free a separate body, the Church of the Covenant. religious expression, and there was a con- Early attempts were made by the Swedish siderable movement on foot to free the church Lutherans to work with the English speaking of State control. A pietistic movement within Lutherans, and for a number of years the the State church had arisen (known as the Swedish Lutheran churches were members of Lasare or lay-reader movement), while a the Synod of Northern Illinois. They also strong temperance movement had been started cooperated with the English speaking Luther- by the inspiration of a Wesleyan Methodist, ans in establishing a Lutheran University at George Scott. There were other sectarian Springfield, Illinois, where Esbjorn held the movements, all of them to a greater or less Swedish professorship of Theology. Doctrinal degree connected with temperance agitation. controversies soon arose, however, the Swed- Most of the early Swedish pastors in America ish pastors being unwilling to accept what were devoted to one or another of these move- they considered a loose interpretation of the ments, and many of the immigrants were Augsburg Confession. This led to their with- sympathetic with them. drawal from the Synod of Northern Illinois The first Swedish churches in the United and to the formation of the Augustana Synod States were formed in Illinois, though there in 1860. Hasselquist was chosen the first soon came to be Swedish settlements also in president of the new church. The story of the Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana, while not a controversy and final withdrawal is best told few were attracted to Texas. The Church of in Stephenson's The Founding of the Augus- Sweden had no agency to follow its members tana Synod (1927). to the New World, and the early immigrants Although the present volume is somewhat came out largely unattended by their spiritual amateurish in its makeup, it is based on a leaders. It was not until 1849 that the first careful use of hitherto unused sources. In ordained Swedish Lutheran minister, Lars fact the author himself has referred to his Paul Esbjorn, arrived in America and the book as a "documentary history" and to a first congregations were formed under his considerable degree it is made up of quota-

249 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER. 1951 tions from the sources. I would say also thai Part of the time he is writing about the insti- it is extremely parochial—a common weakness tutional behavior of mass groups like the of denominational histories—in that little if large Christian churches, at others he is dis- any attempt has been made to place the cussing the thought of Lester Frank Ward or Swedish Lutherans into the larger setting some other scholar equally unknown lo the among the other religious bodies of America. public. However, the book makes a real contribution The product of this effort is really two to our knowledge of an important phase of the books, both incomplete. In each attempt his complicated history of organized religion in methodology is defective. His technique for America. determining mass attitudes is so primitive as The author tells us in his Introduction that to require no discussion: it rests partly on two additional volumes are to follow. guesswork, partly on common sense, and WILLIAM W. SWEET partly on wishful thinking. When he deals Southern Methodist University with ideas rather than institutions, the author reveals that he has no adequate conceptual framework and no discipline for establishing The American Mind: An Interpretation oj the relationship between ideas and action. It American Thought and Character since follows that his historical method is sub- the 1880's. By HENRY STEELE COM- jective. To call a book an interpretation is MAGER. (Yale University Press, New not to avoid the tasks of the historian of ideas. Haven, 1950. Pp. xi, 476. $5.00.) This volume is really an intellectual auto- The title and subtitle of this book are both biography and it should be read as such. If misleading. This is not a systematic and a later generation, recognizing the author's coherent analysis but, rather, a collection of status in the 1951 republic of letters, turns to lectures or essays on diverse subjects that it as source material, the unfailing optimism have interested the author. He makes no and nationalism will perhaps attract attention. pretense that they reflect any original in- Mr. Commager is a true romantic who has vestigation, and the professional scholar will concocted a palatable narcotic for our des- agree that they do not. They are cleverly perate days of disappointment. written and abound in minor insights and Oberlin College THOMAS LE Due superficial suggestions. Professor Commager's book includes pleas- American Silver. By MILLICENT STOW. ant pieces on William James, Thorstein Veb- (M. Barrows and Company [1950]. len, and the prophets of realistic jurispru- Pp. 170. $2.00.) dence, Roscoe Pound and Justice Holmes. In these chapters and elsewhere he has demon- To supply the wants of an increasing strated that he appreciates the significance number of collectors who wish to learn more of the intellectual revolution in which the about the things they collect but who hesitate evolutionary concepts that had originated in to spend, for high-priced books, money that the biological sciences were absorbed into they might put into their collections, a few other areas of learning and speculation. He publishers have begun to issue small volumes touches, too, on literature, architecture, and at reasonable prices. religious behavior. He has perhaps thought American Silver is one of these. Mrs. Stow to disarm the critic by acknowledging the has been answering collectors' queries for a many areas that he has left untouched. His quarter century, first in the Antiquarian (now neglect of the basic physical sciences and of defunct), then in the New York Sun (also mathematics and logic, and his failure to defunct) and now in the New York World- notice adequately the implications of advances Telegram and Sun. As a fruit of the sus- in anthropology, psychology, and related per- tained and diligent research necessary to sonality fields are omissions so fundamental answer the questions comes this compact and as to impair the worth of his book. valuable little volume. The author has not resolved the basic prob- The author holds that the production of lems confronting the student of intellectual American silversmiths has been coincident history. He seems never to have decided largely with the social and economic develop- whether he was writing an account of mass ments in the country, a point of view neg- attitudes and popular institutions or a report lected by previous writers. Thus her dis- on formal thought in selected fields of learn- cussion of silver forms and design is linked ing. From this ambiguity he never escapes. with the nation's cultural history.

250 READERS CHOICE

She covers all phases of the subject and Education for the Worker's Use and Growth offers considerable sage advice on collecting. —for the Community's Greater Productivity Plentiful halftones and drawings help the (33 pp.), issued in April by the Madison reader to assign a piece of silver to its proper Vocational and Adult School, is an attractive, period and the descriptive text makes the colorful booklet. Profusely illustrated, Direc- little volume a true handbook, profitable both tor R. W. Bardwell states in his Foreword to beginners and to advanced collectors. that "in its writing, its pictures, and its printing, it represents the school, since these A volume out of print for a number of all are the product of the teachers and the years has been reissued: it is The United students of the school." Readers especially States 1830-1850: The Nation and Its Sec- interested in vocational education may write tions by Frederick Jackson Turner. (Peter for a free copy to Director Bardwell, Madison Smith, 321 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1950. Vocational and Adult School. Pp. 602. $5.00.) The Illinois Central Railroad is represented Another book added to the Society's Lin- by two items: Carl ton J. Corliss, Main Line coln collection, which is a second printing, of Mid-America (Creative Age, New York, is Paul M. Angle's "Here I Have Lived," A 1950. Pp. 490. $4.75) and Helen R. Richard- History of Lincoln s Springfield, 1821-1865. son, Illinois Central Railroad Company: A (Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, Centennial Bibliography 1851-1951. (Asso- New Jersey, 1950. Pp. 313. $3.75.) ciation of American Railroads, Washington, 1950. Pp. 239. Distributed to libraries.) The A general survey which will interest citi- first-named volume is the fourth in the series zens and serve students of local government is called "Railroads of America," with which Paul W. Wager, editor, County Government many no doubt are familiar. Across the Nation. (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1950. Pp. 490. In the line of local history there has been $4.75.) received an unusual variety of works. Several short sketches of localities must be noted: All publications noted hereafter are avail- Russell M. Wicke, Early History and Legend able at the Society's library. Three new of the Village of Suring (24 pp.) ; Centuria's genealogies have been donated to our collec- Fiftieth Anniversary (89 pp.) ; Carla Lovesy tions: from the author, George L. Gilkey, and Marie Beyer, The Early Days of Briggs- has come A History of the Early American ville (22 pp.). An extraordinary career, in- Gilkeys and Their Descendants (360 pp.) ; cluding a mining town interlude in Colorado, Earl C. Towner has sent James W. Towner's is recounted in Ruth Anderson Rogers' Rem- Extracts from a Genealogy of the Towner iniscences of William J. Webb (41 pp.). A Family containing in addition "Descendants well-known subject in an interesting new of Aaron Towner, who came to Trempealeau treatment is Eva Seymour Lundahl, Lovely County, Wisconsin, in 1887" (27 pp.) ; Lake Geneva (77 pp.). A committee of the from Sila and Theodore Bast has come The Black River Falls High School Alumni Asso- Jacob Bast Farm 1848-1949 and Genealogies ciation, headed by E. E. Homstad, has pub- of the Bast and Related Families (336 pp.) lished a directory of the graduates of the school and has included an historical sketch George Banta, Jr., has donated an attrac- of the Black River Falls schools, 1847-1950 tive booklet entitled, "Allis-Chalmers": a (114 pp.). Brief History of 103 Years of Production which contains the address of the late Walter The following church publications, mark- Geist, president of Allis-Chalmers Manufac- ing the anniversary dates of the founding of turing Company (32 pp.). Mr. Geist delivered the churches, have come to the attention of the address at the Newcomen Society Dinner the Society: of England at The Pierre at New York, De- Black Earth, The Congregational Church, cember 7, 1950. 1950 (52 pp.). A notable Wisconsin business organization Darboy, Centennial Jubilee, Holy Angels Par- has published its own history in The Wis- ish [Catholic], 1950 (32 pp.). consin Public Service Corporation: A His- Green Bay, The Price of a Refuge: The His- tory (160 pp.). tory of the Monastery of Our Lady of

251 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951

Charity of Rejuge in Green Bay [Catho- Navarino, Evangelical Lutheran Church, 80th lic], 1950 (91 pp.). Anniversary of Lutheran Services in Sha- Jefferson, St. Lawrence Congregation [Catho- wano County, 1950 (29 pp.). lic], 1850-1950 (43 pp.). Omro, First Baptist Church, 1850-1950 Juneau, St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran (24 pp.). Church, Seventy-fifth Anniversary, Oostburg, A Century of Faith: First Reformed 1875-1950 (20 pp.). Church, 1850-1950 (68 pp.). Lake Geneva, Church of the Holy Communion Portage, Presbyterianism in Portage, [Episcopal], 1850-1950 (36 pp.). 1850-1950 (15 pp.). Lunds, Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 80th Anniversary of Lutheran Serv- Poy Sippi, First English Lutheran Church, ices in Shawano County, 1950 (29 pp.). Diamond Jubilee, 1875-1950 (28 pp.). Madison, East Side English Lutheran, Ridgeway, St. Bridgets Parish [Catholic], 1926-1951 (27 pp.). 1850-1950 (39 pp.). Manitowoc, First Lutheran Church, 1850-1950 Ripon, History of the First Congregational (46 pp.). Church, 1850-1950 (74 pp.). Menasha, Our Centennial Story: First Congre- Winchester, Grace Lutheran Church, One Hun- gational Church, 1851-1951 (32 pp.). dredth Anniversary, 1850-1950 (73 pp.).

Newsletter Analysis Last issue we summed up opinions on function of informing and stimulating this Magazine expressed by our mem- our members. Only a very few re- bers in the recent mail survey. It will marked, with justice we humbly admit, perhaps give some idea of the basis on on the frequency of its tardiness. Thirty which decisions must be taken by the offered the constructive suggestion that staff to print some further extracts it be made shorter as a bait for more from the returned sheets, this time deal- thorough perusal. ing with our newsletter, What's Going We think the following random sam- On! We start with three samples ples will tell you something: verbatim: "Like to receive it," "enjoy every bit "It's tops! I know of no similar pub- of it," "read 50%," "less back scratch- lication that approaches it. I get the ing," "leave good enough alone," "more impression that a fine group of people news of the state museums" (3), "writ- are working together effectively and ten tersely," "cite a few outstanding happily. In form and style it makes me [historical] achievements," "more about feel 'one of the family.' ' historical subject matter and subjects "Makes an inactive member feel he is presented in county and section meet- missing out on much in not being more ings" (2), "additional information on active." actual research," "some of the news is "Make it a bulletin of coming events old and cannot be blamed on the Postal and perhaps a factual report of prog- Service," "not too interested in health ress—not a 'chatter sheet.' Usually too of staff members," "too much personal late delivered. Desk is swamped with detail," "make it quarterly," "a little such 'public relations' stuff—have too breathlessly enthusiastic," "a re- bought extra wastebaskets." markable little sheet," "more careful Of the persons who took the trouble division of matter ... as distinct from to fill in and return the questionnaire WMH," "give it more punch," "I am an overwhelming proportion—384 to not that interested in the society that 14—said that they read What's Going I want all this chit chat," "don't change On! regularly. Of the 384 there were it." 348 who expressed their belief (some Again we are grateful for, if occa- with gratifying emphasis) that the sionally perplexed by, the thoughtful- newsletter successfully performed its ness of our members.

252 ACCESSIONS

Manuscripts lumber yards in Iowa, owned thousands of acres of pine lands, and operated a sawmill, As a result of the thriving Labor History a flour mill, a sash, door, and blind factory, Project, a number of papers have been added a blacksmith shop, and other stores in Black to the Labor Collection of Manuscripts. The River Falls. Among the letters are a few Wisconsin Industrial Commission presented written by his father, Jacob Spaulding, foun- articles, reports, and speeches of George P. der of Black River Falls. Hambrecht relating to employment during World War I, a group of papers concerning the Workers Alliance of America in 1936, From Miss Flora Mears of Madison the and reports and testimony, 1937-42, con- Society has received a small but interesting cerning violations of provisions of the Social group of thirteen letters, most of which were Security Act in Oak Creek and Greenfield. written, 1869-78, by Joseph Thorp, Jr. to her The Federal Trades Council of Milwaukee father. Among them are several telling of has submitted briefs of hearings in 1939 by trips to Norway to visit Ole Bull, who mar- its Special Education Committee concerning ried Sara Thorp, sister of Joseph Thorp, Jr. the abandonment of the Milwaukee Labor There is also a brief penciled note from College because of alleged infiltration of Com- Governor Ludington to Sarah's mother. munist or radical influences. Other items in- clude: a study made by H. A. Wormet of Other manuscript accessions include: Ed- the labor-management relationships at the ward McGlachlin's Civil War discharge from J. I. Case Company at Racine, presented by Co. K, First Wisconsin Volunteers, dated Harvey Kitzman of Milwaukee; the first page December 30, 1864, presented by Mrs. Carl of the minute books of the Brotherhood of Johnson of Madison; a furlough paper dated Railway Carmen of America, 1914, presented March 17, 1864, for Charles Mann of Co. C, by D. Rousseau of Green Bay; the proceed- Sixteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, pre- ings of the first National Conference of the sented by the Georgia Historical Society; a United Automobile Workers National Council of Federal Unions, held in Detroit, Michigan small collection of Antoine Grignon letters, in 1934, presented by Francis A. Henson of a biographical sketch of Mary Brandenburg, Milwaukee; two addresses written and pre- pioneer schoolteacher of Trempealeau Coun- sented by J. F. Friedrick of Milwaukee; a ty, and two journals of observations in the letter from the city manager and chief of the Trempealeau area between 1912 and 1916 fire department of Kenosha thanking Federal by Eben D. Pierce, all presented by Mr. Labor Union Local 18456 for its presentation Pierce; papers concerning the medical his- of a portable iron lung to the city. tory of Brown County, presented by Earl A. Thayer, executive director of public informa- tion of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin; A gift from the Misses Mary and Jane a photostat of the fragment of Abraham Lin- Spaulding of Black River Falls has been the coln's address at the State Fair in Milwaukee one surviving trunkful of papers of Dudley J. in possession of Lincoln Memorial Univer- Spaulding, prominent Wisconsin lumberman. sity, presented by R. Gerald McMurtry, The papers cover the years from 1857 to 1876 director of the University's department of and consist primarily of his incoming corre- Lincolniana; the address of David Clark spondence concerning his official and business Everest to the board of the Wisconsin Manu- affairs. During the early portion of the period facturers' Association, October 27, 1950, pre- Spaulding was clerk of the board of super- sented by Mr. Everest; a typewritten copy of visors and clerk of the circuit court, but a letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard about 1861 he began to engage in the lumber Washburn Child, January 15, 1912, concern- business, which he expanded until by 1876 he ing Governor McGovern of Wisconsin as a held controlling interests in sawmills and speaker for the Progressive Republicans, pre-

253 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1951 sented by Cyril Clemens of the Mark Twain men in Georgia during the Reconstruction Library at Webster Grove, Missouri, where period, 1865-76, written and presented by the original letter is located; a typed copy of Harold W. Mann of Waynesboro, Georgia, a a narrative by Aaron Rankin, one of the graduate student at the University of Wiscon- first settlers of Fort Atkinson, presented by sin; a typed paper on Joseph H. Osborn, Mrs. Zida C. Ivey; an undated summary of Granger leader in Wisconsin, written and pre- the Civil War military service of Lucius sented by Robert McCluggage of Madison; Fairchild, written by himself, to be added to a typewritten paper on the postal history of the Fairchild Papers; a radio skit entitled Outagamie County, written and given by "Historic Milton" and given by the sixth Joseph L. Damon of Oshkosh; and a paper grade of the Milton school, presented by Ada on basic points in heraldry, written and Crandall; a typewritten paper on Wisconsin presented by Homer Lynn of Milwaukee.

Museum their artistic merit, his paintings are accurate Rindisbacher Water Colors reports of persons and objects. Although the provenience of these newly The Society has recently acquired by pur- discovered water colors is unknown beyond chase a group of four water colors by Peter the fact that they were part of an English Rindisbacher. Already in our collections are collection, it is certain they were painted in three works by this pioneer Wisconsin artist: St. Louis. The year 1830 is watermarked in a small sketch of a prairie wolf, a study of the paper, which Would indicate 1830-34 as a Wisconsin waterfowl, and a delicately ren- the period during which they were painted. dered miniature of the Winnebago chief, The subject matter of the paintings is con- Winneshiek. cerned with Indian activities in the Old Pem- Since the above three water colors were bina area. Since Rindisbacher was the first donated to the Society by Caleb Atwater in artist to depict the Canadian Prairie Indians, 1854, an interval of almost 100 years has these .paintings are valuable early ethno- elapsed between our first and our most recent graphic documents of interest to the anthro- acquisition of Rindisbacher's work. pologist as well as the artist. Rindisbacher was born at Upper Emmen- The water colors measure 12 x 161/2 inches thal, Switzerland, and emigrated about 1821 and are remarkably well preserved. Their with his family to the ill-fated settlements of acquisition offers us the opportunity of study- ing first-rate work of this early painter of the Lord Selkirk on the North Red River near northwest frontier, all the more important be- the present Winnipeg. cause of his close ties with Wisconsin and In 1826 the Rindisbachers, along with the scarcity of available examples of his pro- other Swiss families, moved to southwestern duction. Wisconsin where they were employed by Rindisbacher is represented in the Peabody Henry and Jean Pierre Gratiot to work in Museum at Harvard, the Public Archives of the lead mines. Rindisbacher eventually Canada at Ottawa, the Ordnance Museum of moved to St. Louis where he died in 1834. the United States Military Academy at West The work of this artist is marked by ex- Point, the Museum of the Hudson's Bay treme delicacy of line and color and a meticu- Company at Winnipeg, and McGill University lous rendering of detail. Then too, aside from at Montreal.

254 Indian Hunting Buffalo

Indian Truppers on Snowshoes

Indians Spearing Beaver Leon Flour and Gristmill Leon's oldest landmark, the old flour and gristmill, is gone; it was torn down in October, 1946, after a long and use- There were large bolts whose drums ful career. Much feed and flour has were covered with silk, which were been, ground in this old mill, as it was used for sifting the flour. They used to one of the oldest mills in Monroe Coun- grind from 100 to 150 barrels of flour ty, having been built in 1857 by C. F. per day. A cooper shop near the mill Western. A year later William J. Austin provided barrels for the flour which purchased the mill, and it has been in was shipped all over the State. In later the Austin families ever since. His years they discontinued the flour mill grandson, Winifield Austin, still owns and had only the gristmill. In 1934 the the property. The great-granddaughter dam went out and was never built up of the original owner is the writer of again. The flour-mill machinery was this short sketch. sold and taken to Timber Coulee where The foundation of the mill, made of it was installed in a mill. The remain- stones that were quarried from out of ing machinery was sold here and there the hills in Leon Valley, is still standing. for replacement purposes. The mill was run by two turbine Many of the older people tell of the water wheels, the dam was built on the good times they used to have when Little Crosse River. The mill had four they came to the mill with their fathers. run of stone; it had a big round stone This mill had attracted many passers-by on which corn meal was ground. The as well as old residents who had at grain was elevated to the top story some time or other returned to visit the where it was cleaned by water wheel old "stamping grounds." The old mill power. Here the corn was shelled, and is gone, but the memories of bygone the grain run through a fast running days will not be forgotten by young machine called a smutter. The long belts or old. had cups to carry the grain along. Leon FRANCES AUSTIN

Second Printing Wisconsin Calendar—1952 Motherhood on the Wisconsin Frontier, Available Now! written by Lillian Krueger of the So- ciety's staff, is again in print. It is a Colorfully covered and brightly bound, brave story: it is a story of courage the 1952 Wisconsin Calendar contains and faith and toil, an integral part of a brilliant selection of prize-winning Midwest farm and home building. How photographs of Wisconsin life and the pioneer women outwitted illness, scenes selected from the First Annual Indians, food shortages; how they Photographic Competition held by the taught school in their cabins, fed the Society during the early part of 1951. passers-by, arranged for community Truly representative of the best in ama- worship, and withal cared for their teur photographic art, these fine pictures large families is an entertaining narra- make the 1952 Calendar especially at- tive. Here is gathered together for the first time the material relating to the tractive and exceptionally interesting— women on the Wisconsin frontier. and it's as useful as it's beautiful. Priced Copies obtainable at $1.00 each at the at $1.00 a copy. Historical Society's office, 816 State Order from the State Historical So- Street, Madison 6. ciety, 816 State Street, Madison 6.

256 STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN BOARD OF CURATORS

Ex Officio Walter J. Kohler, Jr., Governor of Wisconsin Fred R. Zimmerman, Secretary of State Warren R. Smith, State Treasurer Edwin B. Fred, University of Wisconsin Elective George Banta, Jr., Menasha Charles E. Broughton, 315 Erie Avenue, Sheboygan Carrie Cropley, Kenosha Historical Society, Kenosha Mrs. Olga Dana, 205 Rose Street, Kewaunee M. J. Dyrud, Prairie du Chien D. C. Everest, Marathon Corporation, Rothschild Mrs. Martin Fladoes, 8000 West County Line Road, Milwaukee Walter Frautschi, 31 Paget Road, Madison Mrs. Robert E. Friend, Rt. 1, Box 77, Hartland George I. Haight, 1041 The Rookery, Chicago, Illinois Earl M. Hale, E. M. Hale and Company, Eau Claire George Hampel, Jr., 1012 North Third Street, Milwaukee Fred Heinemann, Citizens Bank Building, Merrill Lewis W. Herzog, 715 East Fleetwood Street, Milwaukee William B. Hesseltine, 4014 Manitou Way, Madison Perry C. Hill, Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Myrville K. Hobbs, First National Bank Building, Platteville

The Rev. Peter Leo Johnson, 3257 South Lake Drive, Milwaukee Mrs. Vincent W. Koch, 1009 Oakland Avenue, Janesville Mrs. Herbert V. Kohler, 441 Greentree Road, Kohler Joyce Larkin, Eagle River W. C. McKern, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee Robert B. L. Murphy, 2003 Van Hise Avenue, Madison Samuel M. Pedrick, Ripon Robert K. Richardson, 829 Church Street, Beloit Glen Rork, R.R. 29, Eau Claire Marvin B. Rosenberry, 81 Cambridge Road, Madison George C. Sellery, 2021 Van Hise Avenue, Madison Harold T. I. Shannon, 119 South Washington Street, Green Bay David H. Stevens, Ephraim Tom Stine, Carroll College, Waukesha Milo K. Swanton, Rt. 5, Madison Robert A. Uihlein, Sr., 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee Howard Underhill, Superior Water, Gas and Power Company, Superior Lawrence C. Whittet, 2 Canal Street, Edgerton Mrs. B. C. Ziegler, 652 South Eighth Avenue, West Bend

Executive Committee: President George Banta, Jr., Director Clifford L. Lord, Treasurer D. C. Everest, and Curators Walter A. Frautschi, Perry C. Hill, Mrs. Herbert V. Kohler, Robert K. Richardson, George C. Sellery, and Lawrence C. Whittet.